Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) Public opinion on the legalization of same-sex marriage has changed considerably since November, with a significant increase in opposition, according to a survey released on Monday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (台灣民意基金會).

A poll conducted by the foundation in November found that 46.3 percent of Taiwanese supported same-sex marriage and 45.4 percent opposed.

However, in a new poll released on Monday, only 37.8 percent supported legalization, while 56 percent opposed.

In the latest poll, 13.6 percent of respondents said they strongly support same-sex marriage, while 24.2 percent said they support legalization, compared with 21.2 percent who expressed opposition and 34.8 percent who expressed strong opposition to same-sex marriage legalization.

This indicates that opposition to same-sex marriage has grown by a whopping 18 percentage points since November, said You Ying-lung (游盈隆), chairman of the non-government, non-profit polling organization.

Notably, the number of respondents who strongly oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage has risen to 34.8 percent, far higher than the 27 percent who expressed the same opinion in November, You said.

However, the latest poll also showed that respondents are equally split in their support or opposition to enacting a special law aimed at legalizing same-sex marriage, with 44 percent expressing support, while another 44 percent voiced the opposite view, according to You.

Meanwhile, the poll revealed that 71 percent of respondents agree that a same-sex marriage bill should not be pushed through the Legislature.

The poll was conducted by landline telephone Dec. 20-21 among randomly selected adults throughout the country over the age of 20. It obtained 1,097 valid samples and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.96 percentage points.

(By Sophia Yeh and Evelyn Kao)Enditem/AW