CNN poll: Americans split on same-sex marriage

Americans are split almost down the middle on the issue of same-sex marriage, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll, the full results of which can be viewed at http://bit.ly/bU0PVM.

49 percent of those surveyed indicated that they believe gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to legal marriage. 51 percent indicated that they feel the opposite.

The age of poll respondents, however, affected their answer. The survey found that six in ten Americans under the age of 50 support marriage equality, whereas only 38 percent of Americans over age 50 are supportive of same-sex marriage.

The poll also revealed that those who indicated they are supportive of same-sex marriage also largely identified as Democrats or Independents.

"This is one of the few instances when independents side with one party rather than falling in between the Dems and the GOP," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told CNN.com. "56 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Independents think the Constitution conveys the right to marry to same-sex couples. Only a quarter of all Republicans agree."

When asked, however, if respondents believed that gays and lesbians should have the constitutional right to marry -- but that it does not now exist -- the majority of those polled indicated that they would support a constitutional amendment allowing for same-sex marriage (52 percent).

"It's possible that this is an indication that some Americans believe that the right to marry is not in the Constitution but would support an amendment to add it," Holland said. "But taking into account the sampling error, there is no statistical difference between the 49 percent who think the Constitution already gives that right to gays and the 52 percent who think it should. So it's difficult to draw any conclusion beyond the basic finding that Americans are closely divided on this topic."