A majority of Americans support
allowing gay couples to marry, including nearly 7-in-10 millennials,
young adults under the age of 33.
According to a survey of 4,509 Americas
conducted by the Public
Religion Research Institute, 53 percent of respondents support
same-sex marriage, while 41 percent remain opposed.
Majorities of Americans in the
Northeast (60%), West (58%), and Midwest (51%) support such unions,
while Southerners are evenly divided at 48 percent.
Among religious groups, white
evangelical Protestants (69%) and black Protestants (59%) remain
strongly opposed to marriage equality, while majorities of Jews
(83%), white Roman Catholics (58%) and Hispanic Catholics (56%) are
in support. Hispanic Protestants are divided, with 46 percent in
favor and 49 percent opposed.
Sixty-nine percent of young adults
under 33 favor allowing gay couples to marry.
Wednesday's poll is not the first to
find majority support for marriage equality. The first nationwide
survey to find majority support was conducted by CNN in 2010. In
that poll, a slim majority (50.5%) of respondents said they
support the institution.