Are you ready for some fantastic news? A new survey from respected researchers Anzalone Liszt Grove shows massive support for marriage equality, including in some demographic groups that you might not expect.
An overwhelming majority of voters of all political persuasions, including those who personally oppose marriage equality, also believe that granting same-sex couples the same legal right to marry as straight couples is likely to happen: 77% believe that marriage for gays and lesbians will be legal in the United States in “the next couple of years” and 83% believe that it will happen in “the next 5-10 years”. This finding reflects a double-digit increase in voters’ opinions on this issue in just two years.
Notably, voters on both sides of the issue (those who favor marriage equality and those who oppose it) do not feel that allowing same-sex couples to marry will have much of an impact on them personally – 62% believe it will either have not much impact or absolutely no impact at all, and the vast majority of these voters (44% of the electorate) believe it will have absolutely no impact on their lives either way.
Some key findings:
Voters from all political persuasions believe that the ability to marry the person you love is a Constitutional right of every American. This sentiment spans across party lines, as 91% of Democrats, 75% of Independents, and 56% of Republican voters all believe the freedom to marry the person you love is a Constitutional right.
An overwhelming majority of voters — including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — believe that allowing same-sex couples the right to legally marry is likely to happen regardless of their personal opinion on the issue. While Democratic voters feel most strongly (82% believe it will happen in the next couple years), huge margins of Independents and Republicans feel the same way (73% and 70% respectively).
Nearly two-thirds of voters believe that allowing same-sex couples to legally marry would not impact them. Nearly two-thirds of voters believe that that allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry would not have much impact or would have no impact on them at all. Fifteen percent (15%)believe the impact would be positive; only 19% of all voters believe that a ruling allowing gays and lesbians to legally marry would have a negative impact on them.
Meanwhile, a second poll, from the Center for American Progress and Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), found that voters see the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as discriminatory. Here are some more results from that survey: