Overview As support for gay marriage continues to increase, nearly three-quarters of Americans – 72% – say that legal recognition of same-sex marriage is “inevitable.” This includes 85% of gay marriage supporters, as well as 59% of its opponents. The national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted May 1-5 among 1,504 adults, finds that […]
Religious belief continues to be an important factor in opposition to societal acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Overall, the share of Americans who say that homosexuality should be accepted by society has increased from 47% to 60% over the past decade, while the percentage saying it should be discouraged has fallen from 45% to […]
Overview Coming off of two consecutive presidential election defeats, most Republican voters believe that their party must address major problems to be more competitive in the future. And roughly six-in-ten say improved messaging alone will not be enough – the GOP also needs to reconsider some of its positions. Yet while Republicans may agree on […]
As support for gay marriage continues to grow, 72% of Americans say that legal recognition of same-sex marriage is “inevitable.” This includes 85% of gay marriage supporters, as well as 59% of its opponents. The new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that, for the first time, just over half (51%) the public favors […]
Most Americans say they are not personally bothered being around gays and lesbians. Currently, 82% say “it doesn’t bother them to be around homosexuals,” while 14% say it does. This is only modestly changed from a decade ago, when there was far less acceptance of homosexuality generally. In October 2003, 76% said it did not […]
About This Study A number of people at the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism worked on Pew Research’s “News Coverage Conveys Strong Momentum for Same-Sex Marriage.” Senior Researcher Paul Hitlin, Acting Director Amy Mitchell and Associate Director Mark Jurkowitz and wrote the report. Coding and data analysis were conducted by Researchers Steve […]
In order to understand the language and ideas used by supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage, Pew Research tracked the presence of specific arguments in news stories and commentary. Supporters largely framed the issue as a question of civil rights and equality. In the main news media studied, nearly half (49%) of the stories on […]
