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LGBTQ Attitudes & Experiences

2025 Survey of LGBTQ Americans

data essay

Same-Sex Parents Raising Kids

As part of our efforts to explore the experiences of LGBTQ adults and their families in the U.S., we conducted a series of interviews with 30 gay, lesbian and bisexual adults who are raising children with a same-sex spouse or partner.

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LGBTQ Attitudes & Experiences

Publications

  • feature

    State Policies on Same-Sex Marriage

    On Nov. 18, 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage following a ruling by the state’s highest court. In the years since the Massachusetts decision, five additional states have legalized gay marriage, and 29 states have amended their constitutions to ban gay marriage.

  • transcript

    A Clash of Rights? Gay Marriage and the Free Exercise of Religion

    In this research package Public Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage Slideshow: Changing Attitudes on Gay Marriage Overview of Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S. Gay Marriage and the Law Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Gay Marriage Gay Marriage Around the World Graphic: State Policies on Same-Sex Marriage Q&A: Gay Marriage and the Free Exercise of Religion   […]

  • report

    Americans Favor Carbon Cap, Gays in the Military and Renewing U.S.-Cuba Ties

    Overview Washington’s policy agenda has been dominated by the economy and financial crisis during President Obama’s first two months in office. Yet a number of other policy proposals are currently being considered or may emerge in the future. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March […]

  • feature

    Most Mainline Protestants Say Society Should Accept Homosexuality

    Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, two mainline Protestant denominations, are considering whether to allow the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as members of their clergy. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that majorities of […]

  • feature

    States With Voter-Approved Constitutional Bans on Same-Sex Marriage, 1998-2008

    On Nov. 18, 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage following a ruling by the state’s highest court. In the five years since the Massachusetts decision, 26 states have amended their constitutions to ban gay marriage. Before the Massachusetts ruling, only three states had passed constitutional amendments prohibiting the practice – Alaska […]

  • transcript

    An Argument For Same-Sex Marriage: An Interview with Jonathan Rauch

    The debate over same-sex marriage in the United States is a contentious one, and advocates on both sides continue to work hard to make their voices heard. To explore the case for gay marriage, the Pew Forum has turned to Jonathan Rauch, a columnist at The National Journal and guest scholar at The Brookings Institution. […]

  • transcript

    An Argument Against Same-Sex Marriage: An Interview with Rick Santorum

    The debate over same-sex marriage in the United States is a contentious one, and advocates on both sides continue to work hard to make their voices heard. To explore the case against gay marriage, the Pew Forum has turned to Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and now a senior fellow at the […]

  • report

    Two Perspectives on Gay Marriage

    To explore arguments for and against gay marriage, Senior Research Fellow David Masci interviewed Jonathan Rauch of The National Journal and Rick Santorum of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The Q&A’s were done as part of the Pew Forum’s special report on gay marriage. Jonathan Rauch: The Case For Same-Sex Marriage “America’s problem is […]

  • report

    An Overview of the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

    The controversy ignited by the Massachusetts High Court ruling allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry continues to rage in state courts and legislatures as well as in churches across the nation.