About Four-in-Ten Canadians Accepting of Same Sex Marriages, Adoption

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

TORONTO, ONT. -- The Federal Liberals, the party currently in power in Canada, have recently proposed a bill to extend legal benefits and obligations of married couples to common law couples regardless of sexual orientation. These benefits would extend to same sex couples. As the government considers this bill, Gallup polled Canadians regarding their views on same sex issues. For the first time in the seven years since Gallup has asked the question, less than half (48%) of Canadians oppose same sex marriages. This number is down eight percentage points from 56% in April 1999. Forty-three percent (43%) are in favour of same sex marriages, up from 36% last April. Nine percent (9%) hold no opinion on the matter.

Majority Oppose Homosexual Adoption
Canadians' attitudes toward homosexuals adopting children are somewhat less accepting than for same sex marriages. Thirty-eight percent (38%) believe that homosexuals should be allowed to adopt children, up from 35% in April 1999. A majority (55%) would deny adoption rights to homosexuals, with 7% expressing no opinion.

Majority Favour Tax and Employment Benefits for Same-sex Couples
More than half Canadians (61%) believe that homosexual couples who are living as married should receive the same tax and employment benefits as heterosexual married couples. Thirty-five percent (35%) would not grant homosexual couples these tax and employment benefits, while 4% hold no opinion. In 1994, the first year that Gallup asked this question of Canadians, 49% would have granted spousal tax and employment benefits to homosexual couples.

Nine-in-Ten Support Equal Job Opportunities for Homosexuals
On the employment front, 92% of Canadians believe that homosexuals should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities. Six percent (6%) do not think homosexuals should receive the same employment opportunities, while 2% hold no opinion. Support for equal employment opportunities for homosexuals has remained fairly steady over the past two years.

Acceptance in Specific Occupations Tested
When asked if homosexuals should be employed in seven specific occupations, Canadians continue to express less acceptance than when asked about employment rights in general. However, acceptance in all specific occupations, except sales persons and the armed forces, increased from 1999. More than nine-in-ten (93%) believe that homosexuals should be allowed to work as sales people, the highest percentage of the seven occupations, but down two percentage points from 1999 (95%). Eighty-six percent (86%) think that homosexuals should be employed as Members of Parliament, 82% for the armed forces (down from 83% in 1999), 82% for doctors, 75% for prison officers, 67% for junior school teachers, and 63% for the clergy.

Age, Education and Gender Determining Factors
For all questions in today's release, younger, more highly educated, and female Canadians are the most supportive of homosexual issues.

Survey Methods
These results are based on 1,003 telephone interviews with adults, 18 years of age and older, conducted February 14-19, 2000. A sample of this size is accurate within a 3.1 percentage point margin of error, 19 in 20 times. A stratified random sample is used, which is weighted for age and gender. The margins of error are higher for the regions reflecting smaller sample sizes. For example, in Quebec, 263 interviews were conducted with a margin of error of 6.1 percentage points, 19 in 20 times.

"Do you favour or oppose marriages between people of the same sex?"

Opinion on Same Sex Marriages

	Favour	Oppose	No Opinion
	%	%	%
National:
2000 Feb 14-19	43	48	9
1999 Apr 12-18	36	56	8
1998 Apr 20-26	40	52	8
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	34	58	8
1994 Apr 5-11	29	60	11
1992 May 6-9	24	61	14
Region Today:
Atlantic	35	50	15
Quebec	54	39	7
Ontario	37	54	9
Prairies	39	53	9
B.C.	45	45	10
Age:
18-29	67	29	5
30-39	47	44	9
40-49	40	48	12
50-64	38	52	11
65+	14	79	7
Education:
Public school	21	69	11
High school	38	55	7
Community college	48	42	10
University	49	41	10
Gender:
Male	40	51	9
Female	46	46	9

FRENCH TRANSLATION:
"Étes-vous pour ou contre les mariages entre des personnes du même sexe?"

"And in your opinion, should homosexuals be allowed to adopt children or not?"

Whether Homosexuals Should Be Allowed To Adopt Children

	Yes	No	No Opinion
	%	%	%
National:
2000 Feb 14-19	38	55	7
1999 Apr 12-18	35	59	7
1998 Apr 20-26	36	57	7
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	34	58	8
1994 Oct 3-8	30	57	13
1992 Apr 8-11	31	56	13
1991 Jul 10-13	27	65	8
1988 Apr 6-9	25	67	8
Region Today:
Atlantic	31	62	8
Quebec	44	52	5
Ontario	34	60	6
Prairies	37	54	9
B.C.	45	45	9
Age:
18-29	54	39	8
30-39	47	46	7
40-49	34	58	8
50-64	32	64	5
65+	21	73	6
Education:
Public school	27	67	6
High school	34	62	4
Community college	39	52	10
University	46	47	7
Gender:
Male	35	60	5
Female	41	51	8

FRENCH TRANSLATION:
"D'après vous, devrait-on permettre aux homosexuels d'adopter ou non des enfants, ou non?"

"Do you or do you not think that homosexual couples, who are living as married, should receive the same tax and employment benefits as heterosexual married couples?"

Whether Homosexual Couples should be Given Same Benefits as Heterosexual Couples

	Yes	No	No Opinion
	%	%	%
National:
2000 Feb 14-19	61	35	4
1999 Apr 12-18	55	41	5
1998 Apr 20-26	56	40	4
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	50	43	7
1994 Apr 5-11	49	44	7
Region Today:
Atlantic	55	40	5
Quebec	73	24	3
Ontario	58	38	5
Prairies	51	45	4
B.C.	66	29	6
Age:
18-29	80	18	2
30-39	66	31	3
40-49	59	35	6
50-64	57	40	3
65+	39	56	5
Education:
Public school	49	43	8
High school	56	40	4
Community college	64	33	3
University	69	28	4
Gender:
Male	55	42	3
Female	67	28	5

FRENCH TRANSLATION:
"Croyez-vous ou non que les couples homosexuels qui vivent comme des personnes mariées devraient recevoir les mêmes avantages fiscaux ou liés à l'emploi que les couples hétérosexuels mariés?"

"In general, do you think homosexuals should or should not have equal rights in terms of job opportunities?"

Should Homosexuals Have Equal Rights in terms of Job Opportunities?

	Yes	No	No Opinion
	%	%	%
National:
2000 Feb 14-19	92	6	2
1999 Apr 12-18	93	6	2
1998 Apr 20-26	90	8	2
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	88	8	4
Region Today:
Atlantic	91	7	2
Quebec	93	5	2
Ontario	91	7	2
Prairies	92	5	3
B.C.	93	4	3
Age:
18-29	93	6	*
30-39	96	3	2
40-49	96	4	*
50-64	89	6	5
65+	84	12	3
Education:
Public school	81	16	4
High school	91	7	3
Community college	94	5	2
University	96	3	1
Gender:
Male	93	6	1
Female	91	6	3

FRENCH TRANSLATION:
"En général, croyez-vous que les homosexuels devraient ou ne devraient pas profiter de l'égalité des droits en ce qui a trait aux offres d'emploi?"

"Now I would like to ask you about homosexuals in specific occupations. Do you think homosexuals should or should not be employed in the following occupations - junior school teachers, the clergy, Member of Parliament, doctor, sales person, in Armed Forces, prison officer?"

Whether Homosexuals Should Be Employed In Various Occupations (National)

	Yes, Should	No, Should Not	No Opinion
	%	%	%
Sales Person:
2000 Feb 14-19	93	5	2
1999 Apr 12-18	95	3	2
1998 Apr 20-26	92	6	3
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	90	6	4
1994 Oct 3-8	91	5	4
1992 Apr 8-11	82	13	5
1988 Apr 6-9	72	22	6
Member of Parliament:
2000 Feb 14-19	86	12	2
1999 Apr 12-18	85	12	3
1998 Apr 20-26	84	12	4
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	79	18	4
1994 Oct 3-8	82	14	5
1992 Apr 8-11	70	24	6
1988 Apr 6-9	62	31	7
In Armed Forces:
2000 Feb 14-19	82	15	3
1999 Apr 12-18	83	15	2
1998 Apr 20-26	79	17	4
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	76	19	5
1994 Oct 3-8	79	15	6
1992 Apr 8-11	71	24	5
1988 Apr 6-9	60	34	6
Doctor:
2000 Feb 14-19	82	15	3
1999 Apr 12-18	82	15	3
1998 Apr 20-26	80	16	4
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	73	21	6
1994 Oct 3-8	74	20	6
1992 Apr 8-11	61	33	5
1988 Apr 6-9	52	41	7
Prison Officer:
2000 Feb 14-19	75	22	3
1999 Apr 12-18	73	24	3
1998 Apr 20-26	71	25	4
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	65	29	6
1994 Oct 3-8	69	24	7
1992 Apr 8-11	58	36	6
1988 Apr 6-9	44	50	6
Junior School Teacher:
2000 Feb 14-19	67	30	4
1999 Apr 12-18	64	33	3
1998 Apr 20-26	64	32	4
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	60	35	5
1994 Oct 3-8	62	31	7
1992 Apr 8-11	54	41	5
1988 Apr 6-9	45	48	8
Clergy:
2000 Feb 14-19	63	31	6
1999 Apr 12-18	61	35	5
1998 Apr 20-26	62	34	5
1996 Sep 30- Oct 5	56	37	7
1994 Oct 3-8	60	31	8
1992 Apr 8-11	49	45	6
1988 Apr 6-9	44	48	8

FRENCH TRANSLATION:
"J'aimerais à présent vous poser quelques questions sur la place des homosexuels dans certaines occupations. A votre avis, est-ce que les homosexuels devraient ou ne devraient pas occuper les emplois suivants - enseignants d'école primaire, le clergé, député fédéral, médecin, vendeur, dans les forces armées, gardien de prison?"

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.