---
title: "Support for Civil Unions vs. Gay Marriage"
description: "That's the number of Americans who favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into legal agreements giving them many of the same rights as married couples -- a figure that is nine percentage points higher than it was in October 2003. But only 35% favor legalizing gay marriages. "
date: "2006-11-01"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2006/11/01/support-for-civil-unions-vs-gay-marriage/"
---

# Support for Civil Unions vs. Gay Marriage

While only one-in-three Americans (35%) favor gay marriage, a majority expresses support for civil unions. A recent Pew poll finds that 54% of Americans favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into legal agreements giving them many of the same rights as married couples — a figure that is nine percentage points higher than it was in October 2003. As with gay marriage, white evangelicals (66%), black Protestants (62%) and frequent church attendees (60%) stand out for their opposition to civil unions. But sizable majorities of white mainline Protestants (66%), Catholics (63%) and seculars (78%) support civil unions. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/docs/index.php?DocID=150)