Source: USA Today
Six in 10 Americans say same-sex marriage is "strictly a private decision" between two people, according to a Gallup Poll conducted for USA Today.

According to the paper, respondents were asked whether the decision to marry should "strictly be a private decision" between the two people who want to marry or if the government has the right to pass laws to "prohibit or allow" such marriages between two people.

It's an odd survey question since civil marriage is a contractual matter governed by state law. It's not clear how the others think the matter determined if not by government regulation, but the results suggest that respondents interpreted the question to be one about marriage equality.

33% of respondents, for instance, said that the government has the right "to prohibit or allow"  same-sex marriages compared to 2% who think government has the right "to prohibit or allow" marriage between people of different religions.

Another suggestion that many poll respondents interpreted the question as being about support for marriage equality is that 73% of those who know someone who is gay or lesbian responded affirmatively to the "private matter" question.

After same-sex marriage was authorized by a 2003 court decision in Massachusetts, 11 states -- reportedly encouraged by Karl Rove and GOP strategists -- rushed anti-gay measures onto the 2004 fall ballots that outlawed marriage equality. Some conservative activists credited those measures with helping George W. Bush defeat John Kerry.

"Those initiatives ... did have an impact in election results," says Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "Turnout was 2.4% higher on average in those 11 states than the other 39 states."

But these poll findings "suggest caution" to conservative activists who think this will mobilize voters, he told USA Today. "People were warned, with lots of overheated rhetoric, about the consequences of gay marriage in Massachusetts. They didn't see it affect their own lives. Now, most people have let loose a collective yawn about the issue."

"After Massachusetts, the public has seen that the decision there has not affected people's lives as much as was feared," Rozell says.

Although it's not completely clear how the survey response that marriage law is a "strictly private matter" would translate into votes on a marriage discrimination measure, the survey finds that the feeling is widespread among respondents at every level of education, in every region, and among all age groups except "65 and older".

71% respondents living in the east responded that same-sex marriage is "strictly a private matter" compared with 64% in the west, 63% in the midwest, and 56% in the south.

For those holding favorable views for John McCain, 55% say marriage is a private decision; for Barack Obama, 75% say so; and for Hillary Clinton, 69% do. All three candidates oppose marriage equality. Both Democrats both favor civil unions.

Full article: Most say gay marriage private choice | USA Today