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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Strong public support for same-sex marriage exceeds strong opposition by a
significant margin for the first time in ABC News/Washington Post polls, and
African-Americans have moved more in favor, perhaps taking their lead from
Barack Obama on the issue.
Overall, 53 percent of Americans say gay marriage should be legal, steady
the past year but up from 36 percent in just 2006. Thirty-nine percent "
strongly" support it, while 32 percent are strongly opposed - the first time
strong sentiment has tilted positive. Six years ago, by contrast, strong
views on the issue were negative by a broad 27-point margin.
See PDF with full results here.
Further, this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds
that support for gay marriage has reached a new high among African-Americans
in ABC/Post polls, up from four in 10 in recent surveys to 59 percent now.
Another result shows increasing exposure: Seventy-one percent of Americans
now say they have a friend, family member or acquaintance who's gay, up from
59 percent in 1998. People who know someone who's gay are 20 points more
likely than others to support gay marriage.
Regardless of that shift, Obama's May 9 announcement of his support for gay
marriage shows no measurable impact on political preferences. While more
support than oppose his position, 51-41 percent, Americans divide on whether
it's a political plus or minus, with most saying it's not a major factor in
their vote choice.
SUPPORT - Support for gay marriage reached a majority for the first time in
an ABC/Post poll in March 2011 and has held there since, at 51 to 53 percent
. Strong support has been essentially at parity with strong opposition
across that time, a shift from previous years.
In this poll, though, strong opposition to gay marriage is at a new low in
polls since 2004, while strong support is at a numerical high, producing a 7
-point positive gap.
Notably among groups, 59 percent of African-Americans in this survey express
support for gay marriage - up from 41 percent in combined ABC/Post polls
this spring and last summer. Likewise, 65 percent support Obama's new
position on the issue. The National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People announced its support for gay marriage last weekend.
Fewer whites, 46 percent, approve of Obama's announcement, and 50 percent
support gay marriage - numerically (albeit not statistically significantly)
the fewest since 2010.
VOTE and GROUPS - While 20 percent see the issue as a major reason to
support Obama, about as many, 23 percent, call it a major reason to oppose
him, both among groups that look likely to have supported or opposed him
anyway. Fifty-five percent say it's not a major factor.
Even among those who approve of the president's support for the issue,
nearly six in 10 say it's not an important factor in their vote; 38 percent
call it a major reason to support him. More of those who disapprove of his
position, half, call it a major reason to oppose him in the election.
Sharp differences among groups persist. Republicans and conservatives oppose
gay marriage by more than 2-1, evangelical white Protestants by more than 3
-1. While Democrats support it by more than 2-1, the balance is tipped, as
is often the case, by independents: Fifty-eight percent support legalizing
gay marriage; 43 percent do so strongly.
Among other groups, support for gay marriage reaches 69 percent among adults
under age 30 (with 51 percent "strong" support), compared with just 38
percent of seniors. (Half of seniors are strongly opposed). Support is also
14 points higher among college graduates than among non-graduates, 63 to 49
percent. But it's the same, 53 percent, among men and women alike.
FRIEND/FAMILY - As noted, seven in 10 Americans report having a friend,
family member or acquaintance who is gay or lesbian. They're much more apt
to support gay marriage (59 percent, vs. 39 percent of those who don't know
someone who is gay) and also to approve of the president's position on the
issue (56 percent, vs. 39 percent of others).
As with support for gay marriage, knowing someone who's gay is notably high
among young adults and people with college degrees, 80 percent in each group
. It's higher among women than men, 76 vs. 66 percent. Broad majorities of
Democrats, Republicans and independents (65, 71 and 76 percent, respectively
) also report having a friend, family member or acquaintance who is gay. It'
s 56 percent each, by contrast, among blacks and seniors.
STATE vs. FED - Obama said he supports gay marriage personally but believes
the states should decide on its legality; on that the public splits about
evenly, with 49 percent favoring state control vs. 46 percent who'd prefer
to have the federal government make the rules.
Support for federal legislation is higher (57 percent) among proponents of
gay marriage; among those who oppose gay marriage, the same share, 57
percent, prefer state rule. Thirty states have constitutionally banned gay
marriage; eight (plus Washington, D.C.) have legalized it (including two in
which those laws are yet to take effect).
Political divisions follow, with Republicans 23 points more apt to back
state rather than federal rule, Democrats 14 points more likely to favor a
single federal law - and independents roughly divided, 50-45 percent, state-
federal.
METHODOLOGY - This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone
May 17-20, 2012, among a random national sample of 1,004 adults, including
landline and cell-phone-only respondents. Results have a margin of sampling
error of 3.5 points for the full sample. The survey was produced for ABC
News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling, data
collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York, N.Y. |
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