Support for gay marriage high in developed nations

NEW YORK, - Most adults in developed countries favor gay marriage or some type of legal recognition for same-sex couples and think they should be able to adopt children, according to an international poll released on Tuesday.

With the US Supreme Court poised to rule on gay marriage this month and France's recent decision to legalize same-sex unions, an Ipsos poll for Reuters showed that 52 percent of people in 16 nations favor full marriage equality for gays and 21 percent support legal recognition but not marriage.

Only 14 percent of the 12,484 adults questioned in the survey objected to same-sex marriage, or any type of legal recognition, and 13 percent were unsure how they felt.

"What we see is that in every one of the 16 countries we surveyed, there is a majority in favor of allowing same sex couples to have some sort of legal recognition," said Nicolas Boyon, an Ipsos senior vice president.

"In nine out of 16 countries we see an outright majority in favor of full marriage equality," he added.

Nearly 60 percent of people polled thought gay couples should have the same rights as heterosexuals to adopt children and 64 percent thought same-sex couples were just as likely to raise children successfully.

"We see majorities in 12 of 16 countries supportive of gay parenting," said Boyon.

In Sweden, Norway, Spain, Belgium, Canada and France, where gay marriage is legal, a majority of people supported full equality for same-sex couples, along with most Germans, Britons and Australians.

In Argentina, which recognizes gay marriage, less than half of people (48 percent) favored marriage equality for gays.

The numbers were similar in the United States, where legal recognition of gay couples varies by state, with 42 percent supporting marriage for gays and 23 percent favoring legal recognition.