Poll shows most Americans back traditional marriage

Nearly two thirds of Americans believe marriage is a unique union between one man and one woman, a new survey has revealed.

The nationwide US survey found that 62 per cent think “marriage should be defined ONLY as a union between one man and one woman”.

In fact, 53 per cent of the respondents strongly agreed with this definition while only 35 per cent disagreed.

Affirm

Gene Ulm, the survey’s director, noted that the results were “not surprising”.

He said: “More than 63 million Americans in 31 states have voted on constitutional marriage amendments. Forty million Americans in all – 63 per cent of total voters – have voted to affirm marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”

The poll of 1,500 adults was commissioned by religious liberty campaign group the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).

ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum said: “The union between husband and wife benefits society–especially children–in unique ways that cannot be duplicated by any other relationship.

Natural

“Throughout history, diverse cultures and faiths have recognized this universally defined ideal as the best way to promote healthy, natural families for the good of future generations.”

Tony Perkins, president of family values group the Family Research Council, said: “This survey is a reflection of the voters in 31 states who have voted overwhelmingly to preserve marriage at the ballot box”.

It was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a nationally-known public opinion research firm.

Homosexual

Earlier this year a US study found that only 1.7 per cent of Americans identify themselves as homosexual.

The study, conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA in California, cross-referenced five national and state surveys.

Researchers found 1.8 per cent of respondents identified themselves as bisexual and 0.3 per cent said they were transgender.