Poll: 70% of Americans support same-sex marriage

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new Gallup poll shows US support for legal same-sex marriage is at a record high of 70%, Gallup reports. The poll also shows that, for the first time, a majority of Republicans (55%) also support legal same-sex marriage.

The overall figure of 70% represents an increase of 10 percentage points in support of same-sex marriages since the 2015 US Supreme Court ruling that all states must recognize them, Gallup reports.

According to Gallup, the latest increase in support is largely due to changes in Republican attitudes to same-sex marriage.

“Once opponents of legalization, Republicans have mostly come to back it,” Gallup said in their report. “Court and legislative challenges to the legal status of same-sex marriage have simmered down since the Supreme Court issued its decision,” Gallup said.

Democrats remain big supporters of legal same-sex marriage, with the poll showing that 83% of Democratic voters support it: this figure is on a par with the level of Democrat support Gallup has recorded in recent years.

In regard to age groups, the poll showed that84% of young adults support same-sex marriage, as do 72% of middle-aged adults, and 60% of older adults. “Older U.S. adults, who were once holdouts in support for gay marriage, now come down on the same side of the issue as young adults,” Gallup said.

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