A majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage, but the word "marriage" makes a big difference in survey results. For example, survey questions that suggest giving gay couples joint inheritance or health benefits (without using the word marriage) show majorities in favor. And as many as half say they would support civil unions. Question wording can change results in other ways as well. Six in 10 people tell pollsters they oppose gay marriage (half of them say they “strongly oppose” it) and roughly as many say gay marriage would violate their religious beliefs. Yet six in 10 also say legal recognition is inevitable and, when given the option, nearly one-third says it doesn’t matter to them either way. Results like these suggest that many people are still wrestling with the implications of same-sex marriage, so surveys on this issue should be interpreted cautiously.

Americans are evenly divided on whether they would support civil unions