A new Economist/YouGov survey found 54% of U.S. adults support legal same-sex marriage, adding to polling that indicates public approval remains a majority position but has declined from peaks recorded earlier in the decade.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Public support for legal same-sex marriage remains above 50% in the United States but has continued to fall from recent highs, according to newly released polling that largely mirrors the results of a similar survey conducted last year.
An Economist/YouGov poll conducted July 25-27 asked U.S. adults whether same-sex marriage should be legal. Fifty-four percent said it should be legal, 34% said it should not be legal and 13% were unsure.
The findings were nearly identical to those recorded by YouGov in October, suggesting that the earlier decline was not an isolated result. The latest figure also falls below support levels measured by Gallup during most of the period since the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which required every state to recognize same-sex marriages.
Gallup had not measured national support below 60% since 2015. Its most recent survey placed support at 65%, according to an analysis by the Christian Post. That result was down from Gallup’s record-high 71% readings in 2022 and 2023.
Differences in how pollsters phrase the question may contribute to varying results. The Economist/YouGov survey asked whether same-sex marriage should be “legal,” while Gallup asks whether same-sex unions should be “recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.”
The legal-or-not-legal wording could be interpreted by some respondents as carrying implications about prohibition or punishment, while Gallup’s wording focuses on legal recognition and equal rights. Despite that distinction, the Economist/YouGov formulation produced lower support.
Social conservatives have argued that shifting views are connected to broader public debates over gender identity, corporate diversity policies, surrogacy, parental rights and sexually explicit displays at some pride events. LGBT advocates and supporters of same-sex marriage have disputed attempts to connect marriage rights with separate disputes involving transgender policies or public conduct.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins attributed the decline to cultural changes that he said extended far beyond the original campaign for legal recognition of same-sex couples.
“The promise of ‘marriage equality’ was that it was simply about allowing committed same-sex couples to formalize their relationships. Americans were assured that nothing else would change,” Perkins wrote for the Christian Post. “But that is not what happened.”
Perkins cited “pride parades in major cities where public nudity and sexually explicit displays are celebrated in full view of families and children”; “major corporations, universities, and professional sports organizations pressuring employees and athletes to affirm an ever-expanding list of sexual identities”; and a “growing commercial surrogacy industry that intentionally deprives children of either their mother, their father, or both.”
Debate over same-sex marriage has also remained closely connected to disagreements about parenting and child development. Organizations opposing same-sex marriage point to social science research they say supports raising children in homes with both a mother and a father, arguing that men and women bring complementary strengths to parenting and provide children with role models of both sexes.
Supporters of same-sex parenting have cited other research and family outcomes in arguing that children can thrive in households led by two fathers or two mothers. The dispute remains part of a broader political and legal argument over whether family structure, parental sex or household stability has the greatest effect on children.
The Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling remains a central target for some social conservatives, constitutional originalists and textualists who contend that marriage policy should have remained with the states or elected legislatures.
Three current members of the court dissented in Obergefell: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Thomas and Alito have issued statements since the ruling that have been interpreted as continuing criticism of the decision.
It remains less clear how Roberts or the court’s three more recent Republican-appointed justices would respond if presented with a direct request to reconsider Obergefell. Their records have included both deference to precedent and rulings welcomed by conservative legal groups.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge brought by former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis that could have created an opportunity to revisit the constitutional basis of the 2015 ruling.
Even if the court eventually overturned Obergefell, federal law would continue to require recognition of same-sex marriages performed legally in other jurisdictions. Former President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act in 2023, establishing federal protections for those marriages.
Thirty-two states continue to have same-sex marriage bans written into their statutes or constitutions, though those provisions have been unenforceable since Obergefell, according to World Population Review. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have no such ban in place.
At least six state legislatures have adopted resolutions urging the Supreme Court to reverse Obergefell. Those measures do not carry legal force and cannot independently initiate a court challenge, but supporters say they are intended to keep attention on disputes involving marriage, religious liberty, surrogacy and transgender policy.
The new polling shows that same-sex marriage continues to command majority support while also indicating that approval has moved downward from the record levels measured several years ago.
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