Same-Sex Marriage Most Oppose It, But Balk at Amending Constitution

Analysis
By David Morris and Gary Langer

Jan. 21— Most Americans agree with President Bush's opposition to same-sex marriage — but most also oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to ban it, saying instead that it should be a matter for the individual states to decide.

Bush called in his State of the Union address Tuesday night for a "national dialogue" on the subject, but also signaled his own conclusion: "If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process."

In this ABCNEWS/Washington Post survey, 38 percent of Americans favor amending the U.S. Constitution to make it illegal for homosexual couples to marry, but 58 percent say, instead, that each state should make its own laws on gay marriage.

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