Supermajority: Historic poll tracks 63% support for the freedom to marry
February 19, 2015
This morning, a new poll from CNN/ORC tracked the highest support for the freedom to marry, with 63% of respondents saying they believe same-sex couples have a constitutional freedom to marry and have their marriages respected in their state. Since August 2010, when a similar poll was conducted, support among Americans who see marriage as a constitutional right has increased 15 points among Republicans (up to 42%) and 19 points among Democrats (up to 75%).
The poll also demonstrated tremendous support across geographic and age diversity:
- Huge Support in Every Region of the US: A majority of Americans support the freedom to marry in every region of the country. Notably 57% of Southerners support marriage for same-sex couples, as well as 67% in the West, 70% in the Northeast, and 60% in the Midwest.
- Geographic Diversity: From rural respondents to urban respondents, a majority or near-majority support the freedom to marry. 68% of urban respondents, 64% of suburban respondents, and 49% of rural respondents said they believe same-sex couples should have the freedom to marry.
- Cross-Generational Support for Marriage: Across all age ranges, support for the freedom to marry is high: Voters 65 years old and higher are at 52% support, 50-year-olds and older are at 54% support, and people under the age of 50 are at 70% support.
Freedom to Marry founder and president Evan Wolfson said today:
The American people are now as clear as the Constitution itself: it's time for the freedom to marry for all, leaving no one behind. As same-sex couples can now marry in nearly three-fourths of the states, we’ve seen no pushback, no resistance, but rather, continued growing and widening support. The American people's recognition that not only is the freedom to marry right for all couples, but it is a constitutional right that should not be denied to gay people, should give comfort to the Supreme Court: America is ready for the freedom to marry. Americans would embrace the Supreme Court's affirming the freedom to marry for gay couples under the Constitution.
This spring the United States Supreme Court is considering marriage cases from four different states. In Freedom to Marry’s Roadmap to Victory, one of the benchmarks indicating a favorable ruling is hitting 60% support in the polls. The other benchmarks are ending federal marriage discrimination (an area where we took a giant leap forward in June 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the core of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act) and winning a critical mass of states. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama said, "My sense is that the Supreme Court is about to make a shift, one that I welcome, which is to recognize that — having hit a critical mass of states that have recognized same-sex marriage — it doesn’t make sense for us to now have this patchwork system."