58% of Americans support marriage equality

58% of Americans support marriage equality

A poll released by ABC News on March 18 shows record support for the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry. The poll says that 58% of American voters are in favor of allowing same-sex couples to legally marry, and only 36% are opposed. Moreover, 64% of Americans say the freedom to marry should be decided nationwide under the Constitution, not patchwork state by state, with only 33% opposed.

“This latest poll underscores America’s dramatic and stunning embrace of the freedom to marry, and says to decision-makers – lawmakers, judges, and even justices – that it is time to end marriage discrimination,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry. “By nearly 2-l, 64-33 percent, Americans understand that the freedom to marry ‘should be decided for all states on the basis of the U.S. Constitution,’ not confined to the house divided of unequal treatment and legal patchwork that confront loving and committed couples today. With a super-majority of Americans now supporting the freedom to marry, and majority support in nearly every segment of the public, the freedom to marry’s time has, indeed, come.”

The poll asked, “Do you think each state should make its own law on whether same-sex marriage is legal or illegal there, or do you think this should be decided for all states on the basis of the U.S. Constitution?”

Sixty-four percent of respondents said question should be decided on the basis of the U.S. Constitution rather than by each state making its own law on the issue, with only 33% opposed.

The U.S Supreme Court will hear arguments against the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages in states that allows them, and Proposition 8, a voter-backed amendment that banned marriage equality in that state in 2008.

More in Nation

See More