---
title: "Strong Support for Gay Marriage Now Matches Strong Opposition"
description: "For the first time in Pew Research Center surveys, there is as much strong support as strong opposition to gay marriage, with 22% of the public coming down on each side."
date: "2012-05-09"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2012/05/09/strong-support-for-gay-marriage-now-matches-strong-opposition/"
---

# Strong Support for Gay Marriage Now Matches Strong Opposition

For the first time in Pew Research Center surveys,there is as much strong support as strong opposition to gay marriage. In a survey conducted April 4-15, 22% say they “strongly” support allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally; an identical percentage (22%) “strongly” opposes gay marriage. In 2008, there was about twice as much strong opposition to as strong support for gay marriage (30% vs. 14%).

In 2004, when the issue was widely thought to have increased turnout among socially conservative voters in several key states, 36% strongly opposed gay marriage while just 11% strongly favored it. (For more, see Andrew Kohut’s piece in the New York Times on the changing politics of gay marriage, [“The Electorate Changes and Politics Follow,” ]April 16, 2012).

Overall, the public is divided on the issue:47% favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, while 43% are opposed. In 2008, 39% favored and 51% opposed gay marriage, based on an average of polls conducted that year. In 2004, just 31% supported gay marriage, while nearly twice as many (60%) were opposed.

View [our graphic ](http://features.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/religion/same-sex-marriage-attitudes/)to see how public opinion has changed on gay marriage since 2001. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/04/25/more-support-for-gun-rights-gay-marriage-than-in-2008-or-2004/)