LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Most Americans oppose gay marriage and many believe homosexuality is "against God's will," but otherwise consider themselves tolerant of gays, according to a Los Angeles Times poll.
By a margin of 55 to 41 percent, those polled agreed with the statement that "if gays are allowed to marry, the institution of marriage will be degraded."
About half favored a U.S. constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union between a man and a woman, while 42 percent opposed it, according to the poll published Saturday on the newspaper's Web site.
The telephone poll of 1,616 adults around the country was conducted from March 27-30. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Other recent surveys have shown a majority of Americans favoring such an amendment.
Only about a quarter of those polled felt homosexuals should be allowed to legally marry; 38 percent believed they should be allowed to form civil unions. About a third said that neither type of union should be permitted.
While about six in 10 people felt homosexual relationships are "against God's will," a similar percentage felt that legal recognition of same-sex marriages was inevitable.
Sixty percent of those polled described themselves as sympathetic to the gay community. About the same percentage said they would be willing to vote for an openly gay political candidate.
