(New York City) A new national public survey has found Americans are conflicted over the term “marriage” for gays but supportive of a number of LGBT issues.

The survey of 2,041 registered voters nationwide was taken by Quinnipiac University’s polling institute, which said it was one of most comprehensive polls ever on attitudes toward a variety of LGBT questions.

Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

By 56-37 percent, voters said the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military should be repealed.

Among voters with family in the military, the margin was 50-43 percent for repeal. Almost two-thirds of Catholic respondents supported repeal, but white evangelical Christians supported the current ban, 53-40 percent.

Passage of ENDA

The Quinnipiac poll, however, found most Americans do not favor passage of federal legislation guaranteeing job and housing protections for members of the LGBT commnity.

By 50-44 percent, survey respondents rejected the argument that ending discrimination against gays and lesbians is as necessary today as ending discrimination against blacks was in the 1960s.

Repeal of Federal DOMA

Voters also narrowly support maintaining the Federal Defense of Marriage Act which bars the government for any recognition of same-sex couples.

By 50-44 percent, voters supported the federal law.

Marriage

Despite support for federal DOMA, voters believe their states should provide some recognition of gay couples, but not marriage.

Fifty-five percent of voters said they did not want their state to allow same-sex couples to marry. Thirty-eight percent were in favor.

However, by 57-38 percent, they favored allowing such couples to form civil unions that would provide marriage-like rights and by 53-40 percent they supported allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

LGBT Visibility

Asked if society is paying too much attention to the needs of gays and lesbians, 49 percent of voters said yes, while 21 percent said there’s too little attention and 22 percent said it’s “about right.”

“Americans have nuanced and at times inconsistent views about gay rights issues. For instance, 60 percent think preventing gays from serving in the military is discrimination, but 51 percent don’t think preventing gays from marrying is discrimination,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“In general, Americans tend to be more supportive when it comes to narrow equity questions like serving in the military or collecting federal benefits,” Brown added. “But they are less accepting of more philosophical issues such as equating gay rights with civil rights for blacks and the belief that people are born gay rather than it being a choice. For example, 65 percent of those who think people are born gay support legalized gay marriage compared to 15 percent among those who say being gay is a personal choice.”

Four percent of respondents said they are gay or bisexual, while 63 percent said they have close friends or family members who are gay. Among those with a gay friend or relative, half supported same-sex marriage, while those without a gay friend or relative were opposed by 70-25 percent.

The New Hampshire Senate on Wednesday passed legislation that would make the state the fifth in the nation where same-sex couples can wed. The bill now goes to Gov. John Lynch who has said he believes the current civil union law works fine, but has not said if he would veto the bill.

In Maine, a Senate committee voted Tuesday to recommend legislation to allow same-sex marriage be passed by the full Senate.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Iowa.

New York Gov David Paterson (D) has unveiled legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry in the Empire State. In California, the Supreme Court is expected to rule in the next few weeks on the legality of Prop 8, the voter-approved measure banning gay marriage in that state.

President Obama has stated he is not in favor of same-sex marriage but does support civil unions. He also supports repeal of Don’t Ask and DOMA and the passage of ENDA and the Matthew Shepard hate crimes act.

Earlier this week, a CBS News/New York Times poll found that 42 percent of Americans believe same-sex couples should have the right to marry, a jump in support of nearly 10 percent over a similar CBS/Times poll a month earlier that found support at 33 percent.