Poll: UK support for equal marriage at 55%
A new international poll by Ipsos puts support for equal marriage in the UK at 55%.
The survey was conducted with a sample of 12,484 adults aged 18-64 in the following 16 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
Six in ten (59%) of all respondents surveyed agree both that “same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do”, and 64% believe “same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children.”
Support for equal marriage appears to be driven by demographic variables, knowing someone who is LGBT, religion, social media and cultural differences.
Seven in ten (73%) of those in 16 countries support some form of legal recognition of same-sex couples – 52% support full marriage equality and 21% support some form of legal recognition but not marriage.
Those surveyed with the most supporters for some sort of legal recognition are: Sweden (91%), Norway (90%), Spain (89%), Great Britain (82%) and France (80%). Countries with the smallest proportions of supporters are: Japan (51%), Hungary (51%), South Korea (57%), Poland (60%) and the United States (65%).
Nine countries show outright majorities in support for full marriage equality: six where it is now legal (Sweden, Norway, Spain, Belgium, Canada, and France) and three where it is not yet legal (Germany, Great Britain, and Australia).
In Argentina, where same-sex marriage is legal, supporters of full marriage equality are two-points shy of being a majority (48%).
The 55% level of support in Britain was slightly above average. In France it was 51%.
Simon Atkinson, of Ipsos MORI, said: “Same-sex marriage is more controversial in Westminster than it is among the public at large. What this poll shows is that David Cameron is in step, not just with the mood in Britain, but also with people in many countries around the world.”
UK polls in the past year have shown support for equal marriage reaching as high as 71%.
