Gallup: Gay marriage support hits all-time high

A new Gallup poll found 55 percent of people think gay marriage should be legal and offer the same rights as traditional marriage. 

The survey, released Wednesday, shows support for gay marriage hitting an all-time high in the firm’s polling, edging up a single point since last year. 

{mosads}Forty-two percent think it should not be valid. 

Other polling has found similar results. A Washington Post poll in March found support for gay marriage had reached 59 percent. 

Gay marriage gained majority support for the first time in 2011, and has risen slowly since then. Gallup notes that in 1996, only 27 percent supported gay marriage. 

Young adults and Democrats are the most likely to support gay marriage. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 78 percent of people aged 18-29 support it. 

Majority support is also found among independents and those aged 30-49.

However, only 30 percent of Republicans think it should be legal, and a majority of those older than 50 also oppose it. 

People located in the eastern United States are most likely to support gay marriage. On Tuesday, a judge in Pennsylvania ruled the state’s ban on gay marriage in unconstitutional. It was the only state in the Northeast that still had a gay marriage ban. It is unclear if Pennsylvania officials will appeal the ruling. 

Majorities in the Midwest and West also approve of gay marriage, while 48 percent of people in the South feel the same.  

Aside from Pennsylvania, 18 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. In all, appeals are working their way through the courts in six states where judges have struck down bans but have stayed those decisions. In four other states, judges have ruled against laws that prevented their state from recognizing gay marriages performed in another state. 

The poll surveyed 1,028 people from May 8-11 and has a margin of error of 5 percent.