Age Divides Opinions on Gay Marriage

The growing acceptance of same-sex marriage in California reflects generational differences more than changes in individual attitudes, according to a study released Thursday. Two political scientists who analyzed two decades worth of Field Polls on the subject found that age was the strongest factor influencing whether someone opposed gay unions, with people born in the 1970s and '80s more than twice as likely to support them as those born before 1940. ''Californians born in each decade tend to be more accepting of gay relationships and more willing to grant them legal recognition than those born the decade before,'' said the study's authors, Gregory Lewis of Georgia State University and Charles Gossett of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

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