Los Angeles, CA -- Gays and lesbians have come a long way down the road to full acceptance but same-sex marriage continues to be a stumbling block a new poll shows.

The survey by the Los Angeles Times shows that almost seven in 10 Americans know someone who is gay or lesbian and say they would not be troubled if their elementary school-age child had a gay teacher. Six in 10 say they are sympathetic to the gay community.

When it comes to marriage, a majority of people remain opposed, but 59% of respondents nationwide said they believe legal recognition of marriage for same-sex couples is inevitable.   

In less that 25 years the attitudes of Americans towards gays and lesbians has steadily evolved. In the first L.A. Times poll on gays in 1985, only 46 percent of respondents said they knew someone who was gay and the idea of gay marriage was unfathomable.

The new poll shows that acceptance of same-sex relationships is growing, with 62% supporting gay couples, although people are divided on how gay and lesbian couples should be recognized.  

Just 24% of respondents said gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry. Another 38% said gays and lesbians should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry.  Only 34% said same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry or form civil unions.

Among those who approved of same-sex marriage, younger people were most supportive, while senior citizens were opposed.

Within the 18-to-29 age group, 44% supported same-sex marriage — against 10% of those 65 and older. Among liberals, slightly more than half endorsed marriage for gays and lesbians. For conservatives, the figure was 7%.

On the issue of amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage, an overwhelming 69% of conservatives support an  amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but 70% of liberals oppose it.

"The stigma of being gay is disappearing," Gary Gates, a demographer at the Urban Institute in Washington, told the times. "This is a huge change. Gay people in general are feeling more comfortable in society — and society is feeling more comfortable with gay people ... Being gay is no longer an abstraction. It's my friend, my neighbor, my brother, my office-mate."

Yet, despite advances most people remain concerned about having a gay child. The poll found that 60% would be upset if their child were gay or lesbian.  That figure though has been dropping with each Times poll over the past 25 years. In June 2000 when the question was asked 73% said they would be upset, and in 1983, the figure was 90%.

The most recent poll involved 1,616 adults nationwide and was taken between March 27-30. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Among other indications that acceptance is growing the poll found: 

61% say a gay person would make a good role model for a child.

72% favor laws to protect gays and lesbians from job discrimination and 74% favor laws to protect against housing discrimination.

62% say gays and lesbians should get the same civil rights protections as women and minorities.

70% say the military should not discharge gays or lesbians.

2% say their community accepts gays and lesbians.

65% say they can accept gays and lesbians living together.

"It all boils down to a single premise: that it is far harder to hate and discriminate against someone you know than someone you don't know," said Cheryl Jacques, president of  the Human Rights Campaign in Washington. "And more and more people, as this poll shows, know gay people in their family, in their community and in their workplace.

"This has helped people to understand that the majority of gay and lesbian people, many raising children — like my family — are pretty darned normal," Jacques told the Times. "Our household runs on Cheerios and bedtimes and choosing schools and reading books at home together."

Send mail to email@gaypasg.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1998 - 2008 Gay & Lesbian Political Action & Support Groups
Last modified: June 21, 2008 by Outstanding Web Stuff