Why is US support for same-sex marriage stalling? One group drives change, poll finds

Over the past several decades, the share of Americans who favor same-sex marriage has trended upward — until recently, new polling reveals.

According to the latest Gallup survey, the long-term rising trend of support for same-sex marriage has stalled.

The survey — which was conducted between May 1-23 — sampled 1,024 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Currently, 69% of Americans support legalized same-sex marriage, which is down two percentage points from 2023. In the years prior, support had flatlined around 70%.

The halt in the upward trend is due to a slight decrease in Republican support and a leveling off in Democrat and independent support, according to Gallup.

Eighty-three percent of Democrats now favor same-sex marriage, marking a 1 percentage point decrease from 2023, a four-point decrease from 2022 and a return to the same level of support seen in 2020 and 2021.

A far smaller share of Republicans, 46%, now support same-sex marriage, marking a 3 percentage point drop from 2023 and a nine-point drop from 2022.

Seventy-four percent of independents now favor same-sex marriage. In 2023, that figure was 77%, and in 2022, it was 72%.

The survey also asked respondents whether they thought gay or lesbian relationships were morally acceptable.

A majority of respondents, 64%, said they were acceptable. An equal share of respondents said the same in 2023, while 71% said the same in 2022.

Like with same-sex marriage, there was a large divide among Republicans and Democrats on this question.

Eighty-one percent of Democrats now view gay or lesbian relationships as morally acceptable, marking a 2 percentage point increase from 2023.

Meanwhile, less than half of Republicans, 40%, view these relationships as morally acceptable, marking a 1 percentage point decrease from 2023 and a 16-point decrease from 2022.

In addition, 68% of independents now view these relationships as morally acceptable, while 73% said the same in 2023.

“As the percentage of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or something other than heterosexual continues to rise in the U.S., public support for same-sex marriage and views of the morality of same-sex relations remain high, although not holding at the peak levels recorded two years ago,” Gallup concluded.