New Poll Shows Support for Gay Marriage at All-Time High
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll found record high support — 58 percent — for gay marriage.
In a new survey released Monday, only 36 percent of those polled thought marriage for gay and lesbian couples should be illegal and 6 percent had no opinion.
Gay marriage has been one of the country’s fastest-shifting political issues of the decade. Just three years ago, the same poll found 47 percent of respondents favored legal gay marriage and 50 percent were against it.
The new numbers were released on the heels of two top officials — a Democrat and Republican — announcing that their views have evolved on the matter. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said last week that he now supports the right of gay people to get married. On Monday, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced via video that she has evolved to support same-sex marriage. Clinton is a possible 2016 presidential frontrunner.
youtube.com/watch?v=6RP9pbKMJ7c
The new poll also found strong support for gay marriage among young people, Democrats and independents. A whopping 81 percent of 18-29 year olds surveyed supported legal marriage for same-sex couples.
The ABC News/Washington Post poll used live interviewers to survey 1,001 American adults on land lines and cellphones from March 7-10. The partisan breakdown was 33 percent Democrats, 25 percent Republicans and 35 percent independents. The survey’s margin of error was 3.5 points.