For the First Time, Majority of Americans Say Gays Are Born That Way

Affirming what most LGBT people already believe, the results of a new Gallup poll, published yesterday, indicate that a majority of Americans now believe that gay and lesbian people are "born, not made."

In the poll, over 51 percent of those surveyed said they think same-sex orientation is a matter of birth versus "something that is determined by their upbringing or environment," writes Gallup's Jeffrey M. Jones in an article on the results. As he points out, this is the first time that a majority of Americans have expressed this belief.

"Over the past 15 years, Americans had been much more closely divided on the issue," Jones writes. "And in the 1970s and 1980s, majorities attributed same-sex orientation to environmental factors rather than innate characteristics."

The poll also found that there is a record-high majority support for same-sex marriage among Americans (over 60 percent of those polled said they were in favor) and that a 63 percent majority of Americans also say that same-sex relationships are "morally acceptable."

"Across a number of different measures, Americans are clearly becoming more accepting of gays and lesbians ... both in terms of viewing same-sex relations as morally acceptable and supporting legal same-sex marriage," Jones notes.