I was under the impression that women tended to oppose same-sex marriage less than men did; consider, for instance, the July 13-27, 2003 poll noted here, in which oppose exceeded favor among women by 12%, and among men by 17%. This ABC News poll reflects the same gender gap.
It was striking, then, to see the opposite breakdown in the L.A. Times California poll. The question,
A proposed amendment to the state’s Constitution that may appear on the November ballot would reverse the court’s decision and state that marriage is only between a man and a woman. If the election were held today, would you vote for or against the amendment?
Men would vote for by a 43%-41% margin; women would vote for by a 58%-31% margin. As to “Do you agree or disagree with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to respect the court’s ruling and not support a ballot initiative to define marriage as only between a man and a woman?,” the disagree-agree margin for women is 7% higher than for men. As to “Do you believe that same-sex relationships between consenting adults are morally wrong, or do you believe that it is not a moral issue?,” the wrong-not wrong margin for women is 13% higher than for men (though both sexes are more likely to say “not wrong” than wrong). As to “As long as two people are in love and are committed to each other, it doesn’t matter if they are a same-sex couple or a heterosexual couple?,” the disagree-agree margin for women is 5% higher than for men (though again both sexes are more likely to say “agree”); this last difference is likely statistically insignificant.
Oddly, as to “approve or disapprove of the California Supreme Court’s decision last week to allow same-sex marriage in California,” the margin is the same, 53%-42% among women and 51%-40% among men.
So some possibilities: (1) California women and men are quite different in this respect from women and men nationwide. (2) The poll was badly conducted. (3) People’s views are so soft on the subject that the results aren’t terribly reliable (though why would that affect the gender gap?). (4) Two or more of the above.