Support for Same-Sex Marriage at Record High, but Key Segments Remain Opposed

As the Supreme Court prepares to decide a key case involving states' requirements to recognize same-sex marriage, public support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally continues its rapid rise: A 57%-majority of Americans now favor allowing same-sex marriage and 39% oppose. As recently as five years ago, more opposed (48%) same-sex marriage than supported it (42%).This is the highest level of support measured for same-sex marriage in nearly 20 years of Pew Research Center polling of the issue. Yet even as support for same-sex marriage has increased among nearly all segments in the public, some groups remain broadly opposed to gay marriage.The Pew Research Center survey, conducted May 12-18 among 2,002 adults, finds that partisans are as divided on this issue as ever: Today, 65% of Democrats and an identical percentage of independents favor gay marriage; only about one third (34%) of Republicans do so. Growing shares of all three groups support same-sex-marriage, yet the differences between Democrats and Republicans are as wide today as they were a decade ago

Same-sex marriage and the Irish Constitution

This paper examines the recent Irish High Court case of Zappone and Gilligan v. Revenue Commissioners and others, a challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s interpretation of the Irish Tax Code vis-à-vis the foreign marriage of a same-sex couple and their right to marry each other under Irish law. The right to marry and the nature of marriage are undefined in the Irish Constitution. Thus, a progressive interpretation may take into account contemporary knowledge of sexuality and sexual orientation and norms of equality and non-discrimination. This paper also discusses the ‘living document’ approach to constitutional interpretation and argues that the High Court misapplied the methodology of Supreme Court Justice Murray in Sinnott v. Minister for Education, which may offer the means to interpreting the Irish Constitution as protecting the right to marry another person of the same sex

Research Note: Same-Sex Marriage in California

We surveyed California counties in order estimate the number of same-sex couples who have married in the state in the first three months since these marriages were made legal in June, 2008. This estimate provides a context for the potential impact of the upcoming California voter initiative, Proposition 8, which would change California's Constitution to "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." We estimate that more than 11,000 same-sex couples have married in California between June 17 and September 17, 2008

Support For Same-Sex Marriage Grows, Even Among Groups That Had Been Skeptical

Two years after the Supreme Court decision that required states to recognize same-sex marriages nationwide, support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally is at its highest point in over 20 years of Pew Research Center polling on the issue.By a margin of nearly two-to-one (62% to 32%), more Americans now say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry than say they are opposed.Views on same-sex marriage have shifted dramatically in recent years. As recently as 2010, more Americans opposed (48%) than favored (42%) allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. In the past year alone, support has increased seven percentage points: In March 2016, 55% favored same-sex marriage, while 37% were opposed.The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted June 8-18 among 2,504 adults finds striking increases in support for same-sex marriage among some demographic and partisan groups that, until recently, had broadly opposed it, including:Baby Boomers. For the first time, a majority of Baby Boomers favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. Currently, 56% of Boomers favor same-sex marriage, while 39% are opposed. Last year, opinion among Boomers was divided (46% favored/48% opposed).African Americans. Blacks have long been less supportive of same-sex marriage when compared with whites, but the share of African Americans who favor same-sex marriage has risen 12 percentage points since 2015, from 39% to 51%.Republicans. For the first time, a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents do not oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. Today, 48% of Republicans and Republican leaners oppose same-sex marriage, while 47% favor this. As recently as 2013, Republicans opposed gay marriage by nearly two-to-one (61% to 33%).Younger white evangelicals. Overall, white evangelical Protestants continue to stand out for their opposition to same-sex-marriage: 35% of white evangelical Protestants favor same-sex marriage, compared with a 59% majority who are opposed. But younger white evangelicals have grown more supportive: 47% of white evangelical Millennials and Gen Xers – age cohorts born after 1964 – favor same-sex marriage, up from 29% in March 2016. Views among older white evangelicals (Boomers and Silents) have shown virtually no change over the past year (26% now, 25% then)

An Economic Analysis of Same-Sex Marriage

The institution of marriage is the foundation of the family and of society. Even though it is a private institution, it has been regulated by society, depending on the specific time and history, religious perceptions, legal rules or customs, and norms. According to historical judicial interpretation, marriage has been viewed as a heterosexual union, same-sex rela-tionships are precluded from the definition of "marriage". Same-sex relationships, regardless of their duration, have not been legally recognised in most countries and, as a result, homosexual partners are denied many of the legal and eco-nomic privileges automatically granted with the marital status. Only recently, some countries have become more open to grant rights for same-sex couples, but the justification is rather on egalitarian than on economic grounds. The aim of the paper is to examine whether restricting the marriage option to heterosexual couples is efficient. It will be argued that there are hardly any grounds for denying same-sex couples the rights heterosexuals are granted when they wish to enter a legally recognised relationship. Furthermore, legalising same-sex marriage and implementing a social change might bring about a welfare gain for society as a whole. Yet, tradition and social values might make it more desir-able to let the relationship be recognised under a different name than “marriage”: a domestic partnership.

You can’t argue with God : religious opposition to same-sex marriage in Britain

Secularisation remains a central but contested topic within the social sciences. Much of the debate around this concept has focused on how, to what extent and under what conditions processes of secularisation might, or might not, be active. One aspect that has remained relatively under-explored in these debates has been the impact of secularisation on the public discourse of religious actors. This article explores these issues through an analysis of religious opposition to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Britain. It shows that religious public discourse on this subject was characterised by the use of overtly secular (as opposed to theological) arguments, denoting a strategic shift in response to changes in the landscape of religion and belief

Polygamy and Same-Sex Marriage - Allies or Adversaries Within the Same-Sex Marriage Movement

This article addresses the charged slippery slope accusation that permitting same-sex marriage will inevitably lead to the legalization of polygamy. While same-sex marriage advocates generally distance their cause from polygamy and its disparaging history when responding to such accusations, this article determines whether that response is appropriate, or alternatively, whether the same-sex marriage movement could benefit from linkages between polygamy and same-sex marriage. In conducting the analysis, this article presents a nuanced discussion of marriage and its varying forms. Specifically, it examines the United States\u27 historical regulation of polygamy, interrogates analogies between polygamy and same-sex marriage, compares cross-cultural practices and regulation of polygamy, and reviews the international human rights stance on polygamy and its implications for gender inequality. The article ultimately concludes that while polygamy and same-sex marriage may share some common ground, advocates should continue to distance same-sex marriage from plural marriage to avoid relinquishing the movement\u27s hard-earned cultural capital and societal support. In doing so, however, advocates should avoid maligning polygamy and playing into the cultural narrative that plural marriage is resoundingly barbaric and misogynistic, and instead, direct time and energy toward respecting diversity while fighting for equality