A new poll is showing that support for same-sex marriage has dropped to a 10-year low among Republicans but spiked to a record high among Democrats.
According to Gallup, 68% of Americans overall support same-sex marriage, barely down from 69% last year. However, that “steady” level of support—approval for same-sex marriage has hovered between 67% and 71% over the past five years and has not fallen below 50% since 2011—belies a stark and rapidly growing political division.
Gallup reports that support for same-sex marriage among Republicans has fallen to 41%, down from an all-time high of 55% in 2021 and 2022 and the lowest point since May of 2016, when support stood at 40%.
Among Democrats, however, support for same-sex marriage has peaked at 88%, the highest point recorded by Gallup among any faction. That’s up from 83% last year. Support for same-sex marriage has not fallen below 70% among Democrats since 2013, when it stood at 69%.
Independent voters generally track more closely with Democrats on the issue but are still lagging 12 points behind at 76%, up from 74% last year but down from an all-time high of 77% in 2023. Support for same-sex marriage has not fallen below 50% among independents since 2010, when it stood at 49%.
Despite statistics on support for same-sex marriage, fewer Americans of all political stripes consider same-sex relationships morally acceptable. According to Gallup, only 38% of Republicans consider same-sex relationships morally acceptable, compared to 69% of independent voters and 86% among Democrats.
The decline in the perceived moral acceptability of same-sex relationships has been pronounced among Republicans. GOP voters were evenly split on the issue in 2017, the first time that 50% said that they considered same-sex relationships morally acceptable. That dipped to 49% for the next two years but rose to 51% in 2020, reaching a high of 56% in 2022. The perceived moral acceptability of same-sex relationships fell steeply to 41% in 2023 and further to 40% last year and now stands at only 38%.
Democrats also saw a shift between 2022 and 2023, with those considering same-sex relationships morally permissible dropping from 85%—then a record high—in 2022 to 79% the next year. However, Democrats have since outdone their previous record, with 86% now saying they consider same-sex relationships morally acceptable.
In comments to The Washington Stand, FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter explained, “When broken down by various demographics, support for same-sex marriage or the moral acceptability of same-sex relationships does not vary widely: Support is slightly higher among women than among men by a 10- to 12-point margin and slightly higher among college graduates than non-college graduates by a 9- to 11-point margin, but a clear majority (58% at its lowest point) support same-sex marriage or the moral acceptability of same-sex relationships in both demographic pairs,” he pointed out.
“When broken down by age groups, younger generations favor same-sex marriage by roughly a 10-point margin per generation noted: 79% of 18-to-34-year-olds, 69% of 35-to-54-year-olds, and 60% of those aged 55 or older support same-sex marriage; the numbers are similar (only slightly lower) on the issue of the moral acceptability of same-sex relationships.”
However, the starkest contrast is seen when broken down by church or religious service attendance. Those who seldom or never attend church or religious services support both same-sex marriage and the moral acceptability of same-sex relationships at a rate of 81%. Among those who attend “nearly weekly” or monthly, 67% support same-sex marriage and 56% consider same-sex relationships morally permissible. But among those who attend church or religious services once a week, only a third (33%) support same-sex marriage, and less than a quarter (24%) consider same-sex relationships morally permissible.
Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for biblical worldview at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand that he expects general support for same-sex marriage and relationships to continue plummeting among Republicans and even to decline among the general population.
“People are starting to see the big picture. Every day, Americans are coming to terms with the broken promises of the Sexual Revolution,” Backholm said.
He went on, “We were told same-sex marriage was necessary because personal happiness is the greatest good and the only way for people who identify as gay to be happy is to be able to marry whomever they want. That was never true. We were also told there would be no negative impact, only the social good of same-sex couples being removed from second-class citizenship status. But now, drag queens are performing in front of six-year-olds while adults cheer, boys are standing atop the podium at girls’ track and field events all over the country, and children are having their genitals cut off in a different but related effort to achieve happiness outside the created order.”
Backholm also noted that “the sexual revolutionaries did not offer the tolerance they demanded” and often “responded with speech codes and tried to ruin the lives and businesses of anyone” who dared to oppose or question their rapidly ascendant agenda.
“So essentially,” Backholm concluded, “the Sexual Revolution has broken every term of the contract that the revolutionaries made with the public. We’re just beginning to realize the consequences, but every day, people are starting to connect the dots and have buyer’s remorse. It will only continue.”
