Support among Boomers has increased since March 2016, when just less than half (46%) said they favored same-sex marriage. Today, a 56%-majority of Boomers (those ages 53 to 71) say they favor allowing legal same-sex marriage, while a smaller share (39%) say they are opposed.
Support for same-sex marriage among older adults also has increased over the past ten years. And by more than two-to-one, more Generation Xers (those ages 37 to 52) favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry than oppose same-sex marriage (65% vs. Younger Americans continue to be more likely than older Americans to say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally: Fully 74% of Millennials (ages 18 to 36) say they favor same-sex marriage, while just 23% say they are opposed. Views of same-sex marriage by generation, race Views among older white evangelicals (Boomers and Silents) have shown virtually no change over the past year (26% now, 25% then).įor more on current views of same-sex marriage, see detailed demographic tables. But younger white evangelicals have grown more supportive: 47% of white evangelical Millennials and Gen Xers – age cohorts born after 1964 – favor same-sex marriage, up from 29% in March 2016. Overall, white evangelical Protestants continue to stand out for their opposition to same-sex-marriage: 35% of white evangelical Protestants favor same-sex marriage, compared with a 59% majority who are opposed. As recently as 2013, Republicans opposed gay marriage by nearly two-to-one (61% to 33%). Today, 48% of Republicans and Republican leaners oppose same-sex marriage, while 47% favor this. For the first time, a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents do not oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. Blacks have long been less supportive of same-sex marriage when compared with whites, but the share of African Americans who favor same-sex marriage has risen 12 percentage points since 2015, from 39% to 51%. Last year, opinion among Boomers was divided (46% favored/48% opposed).Īfrican Americans. Currently, 56% of Boomers favor same-sex marriage, while 39% are opposed.
For the first time, a majority of Baby Boomers favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted June 8-18 among 2,504 adults finds striking increases in support for same-sex marriage among some demographic and partisan groups that, until recently, had broadly opposed it, including:īaby Boomers. In the past year alone, support has increased seven percentage points: In March 2016, 55% favored same-sex marriage, while 37% were opposed.
As recently as 2010, more Americans opposed (48%) than favored (42%) allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. Views on same-sex marriage have shifted dramatically in recent years. Two years after the Supreme Court decision that required states to recognize same-sex marriages nationwide, support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally is at its highest point in over 20 years of Pew Research Center polling on the issue.īy a margin of nearly two-to-one (62% to 32%), more Americans now say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry than say they are opposed.