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An unidentified Gay couple participates at an annual Gay pride parade in 2013.
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows a record-high 59 percent of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples, with only 34 percent opposed. The deep support reaches into every region of the country, including the South, Midwest, and West, and extends across party lines: 40 percent of Republicans back the freedom for all couples to marry.
“Bipartisan momentum is overwhelmingly on our side,” said Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry. “A supermajority of Americans believe in freedom and fairness, and support is growing at an unprecedented speed. Overwhelmingly, Americans — no matter where they live, how old they are, or what party they belong to — believe in treating their gay and lesbian family members and friends with dignity and respect by supporting their freedom to marry. It’s the right thing to do on both moral and constitutional grounds.”
Notably, a New York Times poll last month also found a “rapid shift” in GOP support skyrocketing to 40 percent, up from 33 percent last spring and only 24 percent in September 2012.
The Post poll was conducted after a series of recent high-profile marriage wins with landmark marriage rulings by federal judges in Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, Utah, and Oklahoma. Attorneys general in Kentucky, Virginia, Nevada, and Oregon have said they will not defend their states’ bans on marriage for same-sex couples.
“Over the past few weeks, the climate has been very favorable for the freedom to marry,” added Solomon. “People are seeing where this is heading and want to be on the winning – and right – side of history.”
Here’s what the Post poll found:
• For the first time, 50% or more of Americans in every region of the country support the freedom to marry. In the South, support is at 50% to 42% opposed; in the Midwest, support is at 66% to 28% opposed; in the West, support is at 59% to 32% opposed; and in the Northeast, support is at 68% to 26% opposed.
• For the first time, every age grouping shows a plurality of support. Among Americans age 65 and over, support is at 47% to 43% opposed; among voters age 40-64, support is at 54% to 38% opposed; among voters age 18-39, support is at 72% to 22% opposed.
• Among Republicans, support is at 40%, with 23% strongly supportive.
• Among self-described moderates, support is at 64% to 27% opposed.
• 50% of Americans believe that the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry, while 41 percent say it does not.
• Among all voters, Americans who are supportive feel more intensely about their position than those opposed—39% are strongly supportive versus 24% who are strongly opposed.
The poll was conducted between Feb. 27 and Mar. 2, 2014.
Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.
