Poll: Majority of Americans Support Nationwide Marriage Equality

A majority of Americans said they would support a law that established marriage equality in all 50 states, a new Gallup poll discovered.

Given the opportunity to vote for a federal law that would establish marriage equality in every state in the union, 52% of respondents said they would vote in favor of equality. Just 43% would vote against such a law, according to the Gallup survey conducted earlier this month.

The survey confirmed ongoing trends of support for marriage equality among self-described liberal and non-religious Americans -- roughly 77% of both groups would vote for a federal marriage equality law, along with majority support among Democrats, adults between the ages of 18 and 34, those who rarely attend church or another place of worship, moderates, Easterners, and Catholics.

Among weekly churchgoers, just 23% said they would support legal marriage equality in all 50 states, while 30% of self-described Republicans would vote in favor of such a law. Protestants, adults 55 and older, Southerners, and men all registered less-than-majority support for federal marriage equality.

The poll also found that public opinion on marriage equality has not shifted dramatically since the Supreme Court's landmark rulings striking down a key segment of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8. As has been the trend in previous Gallup polls this year, 54% of Americans surveyed said they believe same-sex marriages should be legally recognized and afforded all the same rights and privileges that come with opposite-sex marriage.