Although the proposals by the Roman Catholic Church and the Bush Administration to ban gay marriage have caused controversy, it has allowed a Hamilton College poll to be featured in the media including Gannett Suburban Newspapers and the Journal News. The 2001 poll conducted by Professor of Sociology Dennis Gilbert and his class surveyed recent high school graduates on gay/lesbian issues. The study found that a majority (66 percent) of students favored gay marriages; however, only about 33 percent of adults felt the same way.
According to the article, "The poll also found a surprising religious dichotomy... 80 percent of the young Catholics supported gay marriage, despite the teachings of their church, while only 23 percent of evangelical Christians did so.
"It was one of our biggest shockers, that Catholic kids were so liberal," Gilbert said. "How do you explain that when their church has such a clear attitude on gays? For one thing, opposing gay marriage is a defining issue for evangelicals in a way that it has not been for Catholics.'"
