An opinion survey by the Pew organization found that support for same-sex marriage is strongest among Americans born after 1980, and Democrats. Support is rising, however, across all political, racial, and religious affiliations. According to the Pew Research Center poll, support for same-sex marriage is increasing even among Republicans and white evangelical Christians, who had been among the most vehemently opposed to the practice.
According to the Pew Research Center poll, 62 percent of those polled in the United States approve of same-sex marriage. This represents an increase from the 57 percent that was registered when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states in 2015, and from 37 percent in 2007. The survey was released on Monday.
The survey examined the opinions of 2,504 people and was conducted June 8 through 18.
While White evangelicals continue to oppose same-sex-marriage, younger white evangelicals have grown more supportive. Republicans were split on same-sex marriage: 48 percent were opposed while 47 percent were in favor. which was within the study's 3.5 percentage point margin of error for the group. That is a major shift from the 73 percent opposition a decade ago.
Back during the first decade of the millennium, White evangelical Christians were the most opposed to same-sex marriage, with 35 percent approving it, but the support more than doubled from 14 percent a decade ago. Younger evangelicals were far more supportive, with 47 percent of those born since 1964 approving gay marriages, compared with 26 percent of their older counterparts.