More Americans than ever support marriage equality: 71%

Seventy-one percent of American adults believe that same-sex couples should have a right to marry, according to a new poll by Gallup.

The question has never gotten such a positive response. Gallup has been asking people their thoughts on marriage equality since 1996, when only 27% of people supported it. But support has been steadily increasing in the last three decades.

Related: Nearly a quarter of Americans think homosexuality should still be illegal

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Weekly churchgoers remain the most opposed to equal rights, with 40% of them saying they don’t support marriage equality. 70% of weekly and monthly churchgoers support marriage equality, and 82% of people who seldom or never go to church support it.

Gallup notes that a majority of almost every other sub-group it polls – including Republicans and Protestants – support marriage equality.

“This new data not only shows the continuing growth of support for same-sex marriage but also underscores what we have long known—anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and activists attacking marriage equality do not reflect the beliefs of the nation and are working contrary to public opinion,” said HRC’s Sarah Warbelow.

The news about the poll comes as some experts worry about the future of marriage equality in the U.S. The leaked Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization showed that the Court is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the federal right to an abortion in the U.S., as well as the right to privacy that Roe was based on.

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If that happens, Obergefell v. Hodges – the 2015 decision that legalized marriage equality in all 50 states – could be the Court’s next target, and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have already said that they believe that decision should be overturned.

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