An Associated Press-National Constitution Center Poll conducted last August found 52 percent of Americans saying the federal government should give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex, while 46 percent said it should not.
In polling by ABC News and The Washington Post, support for the legalization of gay marriage climbed from 37 percent in 2003 to 47 percent in February 2010.
A poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in September found 43 percent of those surveyed favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, and 47 percent opposed it — the highest support for same-sex marriage in the center’s polling back to 1996. The poll showed wide partisan divisions: 55 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of independents favored same-sex marriage, but only 21 percent of Republicans.
Associated Press, Washington Post
TIMELINE
- 1993: Hawaii Supreme Court rules that denying same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
- 1996: Congress passes, and President Clinton signs into law, the Defense of Marriage Act. It defines marriage as between a man and a woman, bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows states to do the same. Same-sex married couples are denied access to marriage-based federal benefits. 1998: Voters in Hawaii adopt a constitutional amendment giving the Legislature the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.
- 2000: Vermont legislation recognizes civil unions between same-sex couples.
- 2003: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that barring same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
- 2004: Massachusetts begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
- 2005: Connecticut is first state to legalize civil unions without prompting from courts.
- 2006: The New Jersey Supreme Court orders the Legislature to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples.
- 2008: New Hampshire authorizes civil unions.?? The California Supreme Court rules same-sex couples should have the right to marry. A ballot initiative passes defining marriage as between one man and one woman.?? Connecticut Supreme Court rules that a ban against same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. State allows same-sex marriage.
- 2009: The Iowa Supreme Court rules that a ban against same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Iowa begins performing same-sex marriages. Vermont passes a law to allow same-sex marriage. Maine and New Hampshire follow. In Maine, a ballot measure repeals the law. The District of Columbia Council passes a same-sex marriage law.
- 2010: A federal district judge in California ruled that the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage violates the equal protection provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The decision is stayed pending an appeal.?? Lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
- Feb. 23: The Obama administration announces it will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act.
Source: National Conference ?of State Legislatures, news reports
STATE BY STATE SCORECARD
- Issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, District of Columbia
- Recognizes same-sex marriages from other states: Rhode Island, New York, Maryland
- Allows civil unions, providing state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples: New Jersey (In Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire, same-sex marriage has replaced civil unions.)
- Statewide law provides nearly all state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples (domestic partnerships): California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington
- Statewide law provides some state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples (domestic partnerships): Hawaii, Maine, District of Columbia, Wisconsin
- Has enacted laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman and barring same-sex marriages: 37 states, including Georgia
- Has adopted defense-of-marriage language in their state constitutions: 30 states, including Georgia.
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
