The number of Americans who support same-sex marriage is at an unprecedented high, according to a new poll by USA Today. The newspaper’s poll was taken in the wake of last week’s ruling by the US Supreme Court on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8.
The poll found that “an unprecedented 55%-40% [of] Americans say marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights of traditional marriage.”
USA Today reports that the finding is “the highest level of support since Gallup began asking the question in 1996. Then, fewer than half that number, 27%, backed the idea.”
Republicans (68 percent) and seniors 65 and older (51 percent) are the only major demographic groups in which a majority opposes same-sex marriage.
The only region that doesn’t show a majority supporting same-sex marriage is the South, but that opposition has dropped to below 50 percent.
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