A majority of professional athletes say they support giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, a new poll found.

The poll appears in this month's issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Surveyed were 62 professional athletes representing all four major sport leagues. The athletes were given anonymity in “exchange for truthiness.”

“Most baseball and basketball players voted no,” the authors wrote in reporting their results. “But landslides among NFL and NHL players tipped the tally for Adam and Steve. 'Gay marriage should be legal,' says a recent Stanley Cup champ who supports Romney. 'Everybody should have the chance to be miserable.'”

A majority of NBA (53.8%) and MLB (55%) athletes said gay nuptials should be illegal, while a majority of NFL (61.5%) and NHL (92.3%) players believe gay and lesbian couples deserve marriage equality.

The issue has been particularly contentious in the NFL, where two players, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, have made strong public statements in support of gay nuptials, while a third, Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk, has endorsed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union in Minnesota.