American Teenagers Split on Gay Marriage

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- America's teenagers are perhaps more conservative on some moral issues than might be expected. A recent Gallup Youth survey of 546 teenagers, ages 13-17, conducted Dec. 5, 2005-Jan. 16, 2006, shows that about half approve of gay marriage, while half disapprove. A slight majority favors same-sex civil unions. Almost 6 out of 10, however, say that being gay is due to environmental factors rather than something a person is born with.

The teen sample essentially split right down the middle on the issue of gay marriage:

Do you approve or disapprove of marriage between gay couples?

There is very little difference in response to this question by gender or age.

A second approach to the same-sex marriage issue is "civil unions," giving couples some of the legal rights of married couples without being officially married. Teenagers are slightly more likely to favor this idea than the more basic gay marriage concept.

Would you favor or oppose a law that would allow same sex couples to legally form civil unions, giving them some of the legal rights of married couples?

Female teenagers are slightly more likely to favor civil unions than are males.

Gallup asked a nationwide sample of adults a similar question about civil unions, most recently in May 2004. At that time, 49% favored the concept while 48% were opposed, suggesting that teenagers are slightly more liberal on this issue than their mothers and fathers might be.

The Gallup Youth survey contains one additional question about homosexuality:

Which more closely reflects your view?

	Being gay is due to outside factors, such as upbringing and environment	Being gay is something a person is born with
	%	%
Total	59	41
Males	58	42
Females	59	41
13- to 15-year-olds	59	41
16- to 17-year-olds	58	42

These are fairly conservative responses. Almost 6 out of 10 teenagers believe that being gay is "nurture" rather than "nature," a position at odds with some gay and lesbian activists.

Gallup has asked this question in a slightly different way of American adults. Most recently, in May 2005, 44% of adults said that homosexuality is due to factors such as upbringing and environment, 38% said it was something a person is born with, with the rest saying it is both or expressing no opinion.

Survey Methods

These results are based on mail and Web surveys with a randomly selected national sample of 546 teenagers in The Gallup Panel of households, aged 13 to 17, conducted Dec. 5, 2005, to Jan. 16, 2006. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±4 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.