Same-Sex Marriage Support Grows To Historic High: Gallup

ACROSS AMERICA — Support of same-sex marriage has reached an all-time high and, for the first time ever, a small majority of Republicans also support it, according to a new Gallup poll released Tuesday.

To conduct the poll, Gallup Results conducted telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,016 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. What the company discovered was U.S. support of same-sex marriage is at 70 percent, a new high since Gallup started tracking support in 1996.

This year also saw a 10 percent increase in support since Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 2015 decision by the U.S Supreme Court that required all states to recognize same-sex marriages.

Support for same-sex marriage has continued to trend upward over the years. In 1996, only 27 percent of Americans were in favor of it, according to Gallup data. That number grew to 46 percent in 2007 and dipped briefly before reaching 53 percent in 2011.

Republican support for same-sex marriage historically has been low.

Republicans have consistently been the group least in favor of same-sex marriage. This year is the first a majority — about 55 percent — have supported it, largely driven by changes in Republicans' views, according to Gallup.

Meanwhile, Democrats have consistently been among the biggest supporters of legal same-sex marriage. For the past few years, about 83 percent of Democrats have supported it, which could also suggest that support for gay marriage has reached a ceiling within the group.

Finally, support among political independents is now at 73 percent — slightly higher than the 68 to 71 percent range recorded from 2017 to 2020.

By age, 84 percent of young adults support same-sex marriage while 72 percent of middle-aged adults and 60 percent of older adults saying they favor it.