How US adults’ views on same-sex marriage have changed since the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling

Washington – For years, it looked as if the United States was steadily climbing up to gay marriage. But 10 years after the Supreme Court ruled that there was a constitutional right to marry homosexuals, the division between the Republicans and Democrats on this issue is wider than it was decades ago.

The latest ballot from Gallup shows that Americans’ support for gay marriage is higher than in 2015. However, the last Gallup data finds a 47 -point gap in the center on the issue between Republicans and Democrats, and it is the largest since it started to track this scale 29 years ago.

The size of that gap is partially due to a significant decline in support between Republicans since 2023.

The spa -Press polling analysis shows how gay marriage has turned from a clear minority to a situation with wide support – and what the future can carry on the views of this issue.

Gay marriage was very popular

Less than 40 years ago, gay marriage was an unpopular issue.

In 1988, the general social survey showed that about 1 out of 10 adults “agreed very” or “agreed” with a statement that gay couples should have the right to marry. At that point, about 7 out of 10 Americans – including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans – did not consider the statement.

But early in the 1990s, gay marriage policy was turning. Gallup data from 1996 – the year in which the law of defense of marriage has identified marriage as one man and a woman – that 27 % of adults said that marriages between partners of the same sex “must be recognized by the law as valid.” But Democrats and Republicans are no longer in Lockstep anymore: Democrats were almost likely like Republicans to support legal recognition of gay marriage.

Democrats’ support for marriage of the same sex turns faster

By 2004, the legalization of gay marriage began to reveal at the state level. That year, Massachusetts became the first state to allow couples of the same sex to marry. President George W. Bush, a Republican, defended a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage to the campaign’s path, while Democrats who compete for their 2004 presidential nomination said that gay marriage should be left of the same sex.

At this time, Americans’ support for gay marriage was somewhat limited, and the gap between Republicans and Democrats was deepened. About 4 out of 10 adults in the United States agreed that gay marriage should be allowed, according to Gallup data. Between Democrats, this agreement was higher – about half of them was in favor – compared to 22 % of Republicans.

Since then, the movement of Americans to support gay marriage has been driven by Democrats and independents. Throughout the Gallup’s direction, Democrats were more supportive of marrying the same sex than Republicans. Since 2006, at least half of the Democrats supported gay marriage, and independents began seeing the support of the consistent majority in 2012.

The gap between Democrats and Republicans, and at the same time, remained widely. By 2015, the Supreme Court’s general ruling supported about three quarters of Democrats-but about a third of Republicans-gay marriage.

But Republicans have become somewhat supportive of marrying the same sex between 2010 and 2020. While Democrats continued to lead this transformation, Republican public opinion also moved during this decade-which indicates a broader movement towards accepting gay marriage through party lines, even if it is not always written.

Republicans’ support for gay marriage has decreased in recent years

About 7 of every 10 Americans believe that marriages between partners of the same sex should be recognized under the law as valid, according to Gallup data this year, which is similar to the latest general social survey data that shows that 63 % of adults agree that gay marriage should be really considered.

But while the audience’s support for gay marriage in the years that followed the ObergeFell V rule. Hodges – About 60 % in 2015 – has been relatively fixed since 2020.

At the same time, Republicans’ support has decreased in all of the past three years. Now, about 4 out of 10 Republicans say that marriages between partners of the same sex must be recognized as legal, a decrease from an increase of 55 % in 2021 and 2022. This recent decline by Republicans restores their views to the 2016 scale, when he supported 40 % of legal marriage of the same sex.

Gallup Editor, Megan Brennan, said that the recent transformation of the Republicans in gay marriage is exciting.

“This was a decrease more than 2022 to 2025,” she said. “Now, of course, we have the party gap that we have seen in directions.”

The younger and adults were divided into gay marriage

Even with the decrease in general republican support for gay marriage, the division of generations within the party indicates that the opposition may not stick in the long run.

Among the Republicans under the age of 50, about 6 out of 10 say that marriage of the same sex must be legally recognized, and the Gallup poll discovers. This is in a blatant contradiction with only 36 % of Republicans over the age of 50 who say the same – which indicates that opinions on this issue may continue to shift.

In general, younger adults are likely to support legal recognition of gay marriage. About 8 out of 10 adults under the age of 35, compared to about 7 out of 10 out of 35, 54 and 6 in 10 of these 55 or larger.

Brennan noted that the younger Americans accept marriage of the same sex more than older adults, a case that seems to be divided into Republicans in particular.

“I think this is a key to the place where things will go, and it is assumed that,” Brennan said. “Historically, people have become more conservative as they are old, but this is an issue rooted in society today, especially the younger society.”