According to a new poll published
Monday, support for same-sex marriage in the United States has hit an
all-time high.
Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll
conducted May 3-7 found that 64 percent of Americans believe that
marriage equality should be legal. That's a 3 percent increase over
last year.
The new high comes roughly two years
after the Supreme Court in Obergefell found that gay and
lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
Support for such unions has more than
doubled since Gallup first polled on the issue in 1996 (64% vs. 27%),
and support among Republicans has nearly tripled, from 16 percent in
1996 to 47 percent today.
A majority (55%) of U.S. Protestants,
including all non-Catholic Christians, for the first time support
marriage equality.
“Support for gay marriage has
gradually increased over the past two decades, reaching majority
support with new groups, as it did with senior citizens in 2016 and
Protestants this year,”
researchers wrote in releasing their findings. “Republicans'
support for gay marriage is also at a new high and could trend toward
majority support in the near future.”