Study Finds Age
Divide on Gay Marriage
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, March 9, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, Mar. 8 -- The
growing acceptance of same-sex marriage in California reflects generational
differences more than changes in individual attitudes, according to a study
released Thursday.
Two political scientists who analyzed two decades worth of Field Polls on the
subject found that age was the strongest factor influencing whether someone
opposed gay unions, with people born in the 1970s and '80s more than twice as
likely to support them as those born before 1940.
''Californians born in each decade tend to be more accepting of gay
relationships and more willing to grant them legal recognition than those born
the decade before,'' said the study's authors, Gregory Lewis of Georgia State
University and Charles Gossett of California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona.
The findings suggest that same-sex couples will one day be allowed to wed in
California, if not the rest of the country, as older generations die off, said
Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll.
''It's just a matter of time before a majority of California will be supportive
of same-sex marriage,'' DiCamillo said. ''It may take 10 years to replace
another decade within the age cohorts, but it's clear every younger generation
seems to be more accepting of that.''
Gossett and Lewis said that while differing opinions among generations accounted
for two-thirds of the state's increased support for gay marriage since 1985, the
strong link between age and attitudes did not mean that Californians became more
homophobic as they aged.
Even the oldest group surveyed demonstrated a small shift in opinion over the
last 20 years. One-fourth of those born before 1940 supported same-sex
marriage in 2006 compared to one-fifth in 1985, they found.
The researchers said their ''generational replacement'' theory also may explain
why California tends to be more tolerant of same-sex couples than other states:
It has a comparatively young population. The state ranks sixth in the
nation in the percentage of residents under 18.
The California analysis mirrors a national Pew Research Center study released in
January that found the younger people were, the more likely they were to support
marriage rights for gay men and lesbians.
In that poll, 47 percent of those age 18 to 25 favored allowing gays and
lesbians to marry, compared to 30 percent of those 26 and older.
Besides age, politics and religion became increasingly strong predictors of
whether survey respondents were likely to support gay marriage during the last
20 years, Lewis and Gossett said.
Because the study relied on long-term data instead of a one-time survey, it did
not have a sampling margin of error, according to DiCamillo.
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