A slight majority of Americans now support marriage equality according to a poll by The Washington Post and ABC News:

Five years ago, at 36 percent, support for gay marriage barely topped a third of all Americans. Now, 53 percent say gay marriage should be legal, marking the first time in Post-ABC polling that a majority has said so.

“This is very consistent with a lot of other polling data we’ve seen and the general momentum we’ve seen over the past year and a half,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a leading pro-gay-marriage group. “As people have come to understand this is about loving, committed families dealing, like everyone, with tough times, they understand how unfair it is to treat them differently.”

Opponents of marriage equality weren’t happy with the results and pointed to the language of the poll “Do you think it should be legal or illegal for gay and lesbian couples to get married?”

Opponents said those polled thought the word “illegal” meant gays would be imprisoned which sounded harsh.

However, the poll has used the same language since 2003, when polls leaned in opponents direction. I notice they didn’t get mad about language then.

The telephone poll was conducted March 10 to 13, among a random national sample of 1,005 adults. Other polls by the Pew Research Center, the Associated Press and CNN show similar trends.

Tags: Marriage Equality, Poll

Filed under: National Headlines