Poll: Americans Want Supreme Court to Decide National Marriage Equality

Reader responses to a new poll conducted by Reuters indicate that nearly a third of Americans believe the Supreme Court should decide how to legislate marriage equality across the nation. That belief exists in sharp contrast to the stated opinion of some justices on the Supreme Court, including conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia, who said last month that the justices have no business legislating "homosexual sodomy" after the court issued its landmark rulings in favor of marriage equality in June.

When asked in an online poll where same-sex marriage laws should be made in the U.S., 32.6% of respondents said that responsibility lays with the Supreme Court, according to a poll of Reuters readers conducted between February 28 and July 30. Just over one quarter of respondents think marriage equality should be left up to state voters, while 11% believe the issue should be decided by state legislatures. Just 10% think it's Congress' responsibility to establish marriage equality.

More than 40% of respondents under 30 years of age think the issue should be decided by the Supreme Court, while respondents over the age of 50 are split almost evenly between thinking the issue should be decided by the Supreme Court (29.9%) or by state voter referenda (28.3%).

The interactive polls -- embedded below -- are part of an ongoing series of questions Reuters asks of its readers on its various news sites. While the surveys also touch on broader topical issues, at least four recent questions deal with issues surrounding LGBT equality.

To get a sense of how the nation's feeling about marriage equality and the current political climate in regards to LGBT equality, check out the results embedded on the next page.