A narrow majority of Americans support
gay marriage, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
Fifty-one percent of respondents said
they support marriage equality.
The ABC
News/Washington Post survey is the fifth in a row since
March, 2011 to find a majority in favor of gay nuptials.
Opposition in this poll has increased 8
points since May due to a change in wording. The May poll found 39
percent in favor of making such unions “illegal,” while today's
poll finds 47 percent “opposed.”
It is the first nationwide poll to be
released since four states voted on the issue on November 6. In
three of those states – Maine, Maryland and Washington state –
voters legalized the institution, while Minnesotans voted against
banning it.
Eighty-one percent of those who
describe themselves as “very conservative” and seventy-five
percent of senior citizens oppose marriage equality, while large
majorities of young people under 29 (66%) and Democrats (62%) support
it. Majorities of Hispanics (53%) and whites (51%) support such
unions, but African-Americans are against it by a 51-43 margin.
The telephone survey of 1,023 random
adults was conducted November 7-11.