Same-Sex Marriage and Civil Unions

Abstract

For many Americans, the issue of same-sex marriage burst upon the political scene in the fall of 2003, when the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that the state had no grounds to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. Within a few months same-sex marriages were performed in a number of cities and counties, including large numbers of weddings in San Francisco, to widespread media attention. Religious conservatives pushed for a federal constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, which eventually won the backing of the president. Interest groups mobilized to "defend the equal rights" of same-sex couples to marry and to "defend the traditional family" by banning these marriages (see, e.g., Gordon, Tadlock, and Popp 2004). Our purpose is to describe trends in public opinion about same-sex marriage, including public support for legal recognition for same-sex marriage, civil unions that would give same-sex couples some of the rights of legally married couples, and a proposed amendment to the U.S. constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.