Majority of Americans Believe Same-Sex Marriages Should Be Recognized By Law, According to Poll

The results of a new Gallup poll show that a majority of Americans believe that same-sex marriages should be recognized as equal to traditional marriages under the law. At 53%, this result marks the first time since Gallup began tracking the issue that those polled were more in favor of recognizing same-sex marriages by law.

However, Gallup notes that the results have remained consistently divided among political party lines and by age group, regardless of the growth in the rate of support, which began at 27% when first tracked in 1996, and moved into the low-40% range by the early 2000s. Democrats and young people are more likely to favor legally recognizing same-sex marriage, whereas older Americans and Republicans tend to not favor such a recognition.

A similar uptick in favoring the recognition of same-sex marriage was noted in June 2010 for Californians, who, when polled, showed a 51% majority of support. In March 2011, when Hollywood celebs were signing on to pressure President Barack Obama to reconsider his public position on same-sex marriage, a Washington Post-ABC poll also found that 53% of Americans felt same-sex marriage should be legal.