Republican Voters Growing Increasingly Anti-Gay

A new Gallup poll shows that Republican voters are growing increasingly anti-gay. While the nation continues to embrace same-sex marriage, support among Republican voters is greatly decreasing — and affecting the national average. The poll, released today, finds 50% of Americans support civil same-sex marriage, down from 53% last year.

This year, only 22% of Republicans support gay marriage, while last year 28% did — a substantial decrease.

By comparison, this year 65% of Democrats support the right of same-sex couples to marry, down slightly from 69% last year, but still up dramatically from 2010, when it was 56%. In 2010, only 44% of Americans supported the freedom to marry, according to Gallup, despite several other polls putting the number at or over 50%. In 2011, Gallup found 53% support, and this year, 50% support. Gallup noted when they “first asked about the legality of gay marriage in a 1996 poll, 68% of Americans were opposed and 27% in favor,” and today adds that at 51%, “Catholics are right at the overall average in their views on same-sex marriage. The Catholic Church officially opposes same-sex marriage and Biden himself is Catholic,” and that at 38%, “[s]ignificantly less than half of Protestants approve, while those who identify with no religion overwhelmingly approve.”