US support for same-sex marriage dipping as Republicans say no

Support for same-sex marriage in the United States has fallen from its recent peak, with new support rising. Gallup poll The results suggest that this change is caused by a decline in support among Republicans.

About 65% of U.S. adults now think same-sex marriage should be legal, down from 71% in 2022 and 2023. This decline was concentrated among Republicans, with 37% saying same-sex marriage should be legally valid and 35% saying same-sex marriage and lesbian relationships are “morally permissible.”

The same poll suggests a widespread cooling of attitudes toward LGBTQ+ issues. A Gallup poll found that 62% of U.S. adults consider gay and lesbian relationships “morally acceptable,” down nearly 10% from 2022. The study also found that about 40% of Americans think changing one’s gender is “morally acceptable,” down from nearly 50% five years ago.

The poll was conducted via telephone interviews with 1,001 U.S. adults from May 1 to May 17, and has a sampling margin of error of approximately 4 percentage points.

Long-term support for same-sex marriage

Support for legal same-sex marriage was 27% in 1996 and has steadily risen over the past two decades, according to Gallup’s long-standing trend data.

Since the 2015 Supreme Court ruling, same-sex marriage has been recognized nationwide in the United States, and more than 800,000 same-sex couples will have married as of 2025, according to data from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

Republican shift and state-level pushback

The new numbers emerge as marriage equality faces new political pressure, including calls by Republican lawmakers to reverse same-sex marriage and continued questions about what could happen if nationwide marriage recognition is rescinded.

Please share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments section below. Please keep the conversation respectful.