The Number: 54% - Gay marriage is a state issue

54% Gay marriage: It's still a state issue

At the national level, Americans continue to oppose gay marriage. An April Pew Research survey found a 54% majority opposing same-sex marriage, with only 35% supporting the right of gays and lesbians to wed. However, when the same question is posed about civil unions, the numbers reverse, with 53% supporting civil unions and 39% opposed. In 2008, voters in Florida, Arizona and California approved gay-marriage bans, bringing the total number of states that had amended their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage to 29. However, in 2009, the Vermont Legislature legalized gay marriage (the first time legalization was the result of a statute rather than a court ruling), an act soon followed by legislatures in New Hampshire and Maine.