A majority of Americans support gay marriage, according to an Associated Press poll released this week.
In the poll, 52 percent of Americans said yes when asked: “Should the federal government give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same-sex, or not?”
That’s an increase of six percentage points from when the question was asked in the AP poll last year.
“For the second time, a national poll shows that a majority of Americans support the freedom to marry, reflecting the growing momentum of the marriage movement and a growing awareness in America of who gay people are and why marriage matters to same-sex couples and their families,” Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, said in a statement.
“Even in a moment in which most people are focused on the economy and unemployment, Americans are still speaking up for our country’s core values that the majority should not deny a minority its rights and that we must uphold the Constitution’s enduring promise of equal protection for all.”
In August, a CNN poll in August showed 52 percent agreed that “gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid.”
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In the AP poll of 1,007 Americans, 58 percent of respondents believe that “couples of the same sex (should) be entitled to the same government benefits as married couples of the opposite sex.”
And in yet another poll, conducted by CBS News, 77% of Americans now say they know someone who is gay or lesbian, an increase of 35 percentage points since 1992. The increasing prominence of gay people and personal “coming out” is thought to play an important role in building support for same-sex marriage.
Copy of the AP Poll here.
Copy of the earlier CNN Poll here.
