Even though the decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide will be up to the nine judges of the Supeme Court, a majority of Americans hope they rule in favor of equality.
The most recent poll from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute finds 54 percent of Americans support the right of same-sex couples to wed. That number is up 22 percentage points from just 12 years ago, when Massachusetts became the first nation to legalize marriage equality.
The PRRI numbers also include public sentiment from each state. The liberal Northeast and West Coast, unsurprisingly, had some of the highest support for marriage equality. A whopping 75 percent of New Hampshire respondents support same-sex marriage, and New England, New York, and the West Coast states had approval percentages at 61 percent or higher.
The lowest approval comes from Alabama, at 32 percent. That state's officials effectively blocked same-sex marriage from taking effect there. Meanwhile, Texas, also a strong opponent to marriage equality, showed nearly half of respondents approved of marriage equality, with 48 percent in approval.
The most support for marriage equality came from states where same-sex marriage was legalized through legislatures or popular vote. States that have marriage equality because of court rulings followed next in approval numbers, while the 13 states without marriage equality had the smallest support.
