By Elizabeth O’Brien
WASHINGTON, DC, July 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recently released survey by the nonprofit Pew Research Center (PRC) in Washington indicates that American support has decreased for homosexual “marriage”.
When conducting the survey, entitled “Generation Gap in Values, Behaviors,” researchers contacted 2,020 people throughout the United States by phone from February 16 through March 14, 2007. They asked people of various racial backgrounds about issues relating to heterosexual marriage, unwed parenting, homosexual “marriage”, homosexual parenting, divorce and cohabitation.
A strong majority (65%) defined the main purpose of marriage as “forming a lifetime union between two adults for their mutual happiness and fulfillment,” rather than the more traditional understanding of marriage as being for “bearing and raising children.” When asked to choose between nine different things that make a marriage most successful, 93% stated that it was “faithfulness”.
The survey asked whether gay and lesbian couples should be allowed “to enter into legal agreements with each other that would give them many of the same rights as married couples.” In total, 45% favored the idea while a slim 1% more (46%) remained in opposition. According to the survey, the number in favor of same-sex civil unions has not been this low since October 2003 (see https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jul/03072909.html).
Nevertheless, when asked specifically about same-sex “marriage”, the results had changed significantly. The question was, “Do you favor or oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally?” While 32% were in favor, 57% were opposed. According to the PRC, opposition to gay “marriage” has increased from 51% in March 2006. Instead, the current numbers are more akin to 2003 and 2004 numbers.
The survey also noted, “The groups most likely to take issue with gay marriage include men, older adults (ages 50 and above), the less educated (high school or less), Protestants (particularly white evangelicals), and regular church attendees (weekly or more).”
When asked about homosexual parenting, more women were in favor than men (59% opposed the idea). “Among women, opposition to gay and lesbian couples raising children has declined in the past decade,” stated the survey. “In a 1997 survey of women only, a majority (56%) said this was a bad thing for society, compared with 42% saying this today. The negative reaction has fallen across the board among women, regardless of age, education and marital status.”
When asked about homosexual parenting, a total of 50% responded by saying that it is bad for society, 11% that it is good, and 34% said it didn’t matter.
Read the survey results:
https://pewresearch.org/assets/social/pdf/Marriage.pdf