The controversy ignited by the Massachusetts High Court ruling allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry continues to rage in state courts and legislatures as well as in churches across the nation.
That’s the percentage of U.S. adults who say that when there is a marriage in which the parents are very unhappy with one another, their children are better off if the parents get divorced; only 19% disagree.
The Pew Forum database covers presidential contenders’ positions on issues of special religious significance as well as their stands on other domestic and foreign policies.
In many countries around the globe, gay and lesbian couples are seeking the right to marry or enter into other legally recognized forms of domestic partnerships. The legal definition of marriage is in flux, particularly in the developed world.
A Stateline.org backgrounder examines the issue of gay marriage three years after a historic Massachusetts court ruling legalized same-sex marriage in the state. All eyes are now on the highest courts in California, Connecticut and Maryland, where decisions on the constitutionality of gay marriage are likely this year.