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Age affects attitude to homosexual marriage: US poll

Younger adults are evenly split over gay marriage, but older Americans are opposed by a four-to-one margin, according to a poll examining attitudes about homosexuality.

The poll, released on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that opposition to gay marriage increased among older people.

While younger people in general were more apt to approve of gay marriage -- those between ages 20 and 30 were evenly split -- the poll found that among those in their 60s and 70s, opponents outnumbered supporters by a factor of four.

Opposition to gay marriage has grown since mid-summer, with 32 percent favoring it and 59 percent opposing it. In July, 53 percent said they opposed gay marriage, and 38 percent approved.

Political attitudes sharply affected beliefs about gay marriage. Four in five of those who say they would vote to re-elect President George W. Bush oppose gay marriage, while those who prefer that a Democrat win the presidency are evenly split on the question.

The Pew poll showed the public was evenly divided on whether gays and lesbians could alter their sexual orientation, with white Evangelicals more likely to think homosexuals could become heterosexual.

``Evangelicals are far more likely to say homosexuals can change, Catholics and mainline Protestants fall in the middle and more secular people are most likely to say they cannot change,'' said Scott Keeter, a pollster at the center.

The survey reinforced the finding that religious attitudes sharply affect feelings on gays and homosexual behavior. Those with a high level of religious commitment oppose gay marriage by 80 percent to 12 percent.
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