Article: Attitudes Toward gay Marriage in States Undergoing Marriage Law Transformation. Journal of Marriage and Family, May 2008.
Summary: The battle over gay marriage has been waging on in American society, with some individuals and organizations fighting to preserve the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and others attempting to expand this right to gays and lesbians. Stacey Brumbaugh, Laura Sanchez, Steven Nock, and James Wright (Journal of Marriage and Family, May 2008) examine attitudes surrounding gay marriage in three states that have considered “covenant marriage legislation,” designed to preserve marriage by establishing more strict marriage requirements.
While others have examined who is most likely to oppose gay marriage, this study uses survey data from Louisiana, Arizona, and Minnesota to examine directly “the relationship between willingness to strengthen marriage for heterosexuals and opposition to gay marriage.” In line with past findings, blacks and men are more disapproving of gay marriage than whites and women. Not surprisingly, more religious and politically conservative individuals were also more opposed. While Louisianans were generally more disapproving of gay marriage than Minnesotans, this state-level effect was not significant when religious, political, and social attitudes were taken into consideration.