Poll: Support for Gay Marriage Falls, but Most Favor Legal Recognition for Gay Couples

Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

As gay marriage spreads in the Northeast and the U.S. Census Bureau prepares to begin counting married gay Americans, the latest CBS/New York Times poll finds that just a third of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples. That's down from a high of 42 percent in April.

The dip in support most likely represents a reaction to the flurry of news stories about the handful of states—Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont—that have legalized gay marriage in the past three months. This could vindicate the Obama administration for its fears of backlash should it make a major move on gay rights by taking steps to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act or the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

At the same time, according to the new poll, 63 percent of Americans favor some legal recognition, either marriage or civil unions, for gay couples, a slight uptick since April.

The new poll also finds that Americans' views on abortion remain stable, with 34 percent saying abortion should be generally available and an additional 41 percent saying it should be available under stricter limits. Sixty-two percent say that Roe. v . Wade should be left alone.

Those numbers appear to bode well for the White House's plan to reduce abortion without touching the legal right to have one, though a plurality of Americans would support restricting that right somewhat.

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