Americans would legalize gay marriage nationwide, favor equal rights for such unions
Fifty-two percent of Americans would vote for a federal law legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states. Americans' broader support for recognizing same-sex marriage, at 54%, hasn't changed since the Supreme Court's recent rulings.
PRINCETON, NJ -- If given the opportunity to vote on a law legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states, the slight majority of Americans, 52%, say they would cast their vote in favor, while 43% would vote against it.
Across the nation's major demographic, political, and religious groups, support for the proposed law ranges from as high as 77% among self-described liberal Americans, and 76% among those with no religious affiliation, to as low as 23% among weekly churchgoers, and 30% among Republicans and conservatives.
Other groups showing at least 60% support for legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide include Democrats, adults aged 18 to 34, those who rarely or never attend a church or other place of worship, moderates, Easterners, and Catholics. Others showing less than 50% support include Protestants, adults 55 and older, Southerners, and men.
The groups showing the most ambiguity about such a same-sex marriage law, with between 51% and 53% in favor and 43% to 45% opposed, include Midwesterners, nonwhites, and adults aged 35 to 54.
No Shift Since Court Decisions in General Support for Legalizing Gay Marriage
In the same poll, Gallup asked a separate half-sample of Americans whether they think marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The 54% saying they should be recognized conforms with the 53% expressing the same view in May, and prior to that in November 2012.
This is the first update of this Gallup trend since the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in July,