Marriage Scores on Survey

Special Report - June 20, 2011
A new nationwide survey shows that the majority of Americans still define marriage as only between one man and one woman. The comprehensive survey, which was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and commissioned by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), involved a telephone survey of 1,500 American adults in May 2011, who were asked whether they agree or disagree with the following statement: “I believe MARRIAGE should be defined ONLY as a union between one man and one woman.” According to the results, 62 percent of Americans who participated in the survey agreed with that statement (53 percent “strongly agreed”), while only 35 percent disagreed.

“These numbers are not surprising,” said Public Opinion Strategies partner, and the survey’s director, Gene Ulm, in a statement announcing the results. “More than 63 million Americans in 31 state elections have voted on constitutional marriage amendments. Forty million Americans in all—63 percent of total voters—have voted to affirm marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”

In North Carolina, which is the only Southern state where the citizens have not yet had the opportunity to vote on a Marriage Protection Amendment, surveys have consistently shown that the majority of voting citizens support including the definition of marriage in the State Constitution. A 2010 poll by the John W. Pope Civitas Institute found that nearly two-thirds (or 65 percent) of 600 likely voters favored “an amendment to the North Carolina constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman, while 32 percent were opposed.

Although the General Assembly adjourned the 2011 session on June 18 without considering legislation that would give North Carolinians the opportunity to vote on a Marriage Protection Amendment in November 2012, the leadership of both chambers has indicated that lawmakers will return later this year for a special session on constitutional amendments and will take up the Marriage Protection Amendment measure at that time.

Related resources:
Elon Poll Shows Question Bias - March 2, 2011
Marriage Amendment Issue Brief - March, 2011
Grant Given To Fight Marriage Amendment - March 1, 2011
Marriage Protection Amendment Filed - February 24, 2011
Majority for Traditional Marriage - February 15, 2011
Majority Battle Rundown - February 2, 2011

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