Gallup: Record Majority Supports Gay Marriage

Fifty-three percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, a new USA Today-Gallup poll finds, but those who do not often cite religious beliefs or scripture interpretation in their explanations.

The survey of 1,015 adults conducted Nov. 26 to 29 found that 46 percent opposed same-sex marriage. Among the other reasons cited were the conviction that marriage should be only between a man and a woman and the view that same-sex marriage is morally wrong or against traditional beliefs.

Overall, the 53 percent who back same-sex marriage ties the previous record high in May 2011. Gallup began tracking the issue in 1996. In surveys that year, more than two-thirds of Americans were opposed to same-sex marriage.

In the recent survey, the respondents said that such unions should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. They also said that the issue was a matter of equal rights, or that such things should be left to the personal choice of those involved.