--- description: More Americans than ever support gay marriages as a slew of states legalize legal state for same-sex couples title: American Support for Gay Marriage Hits All-Time High image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LGBT](/tag/lgbt/) ## LGBT Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # American Support for Gay Marriage Hits Record High by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 21, 2014 1:44 PM CUT by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 21, 2014 1:44 PM CUT Americans’ support for legal recognition of same-sex marriages has [reached an all-time high](http://www.gallup.com/poll/169640/sex-marriage-support-reaches-new-high.aspx "undefined"), according to a new poll, amid a string of victories for gay rights activists in Pennsylvania, Oregon and other states. The Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 55% support laws recognizing same-sex marriage, up from 27% in 1996\. Nearly eight out of 10 people ages 18-29 support gay marriage. Just 30 percent of Republicans support it. A federal judge [ruled Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional Tuesda](http://time.com/107114/gay-couples-rush-for-licenses-in-pennsylvania/ "undefined")y, and on Monday, Oregon became the 18th state to recognize same-sex marriage. In Idaho and [Arkansas](http://time.com/103572/arkansas-gay-marriage-suspension-ruling/ "undefined"), recent court rulings have overturned gay marriage bans, only to be [put on hold](http://time.com/106973/idaho-same-sex-marriage-stay/ "undefined"). The judge who overturned the Pennsylvania ban wrote in his decision that “we are better people than what these laws represent, and it’s time to discard them into the ash heap of history,” CNN [reports](http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/20/us/pennsylvania-same-sex-marriage/ "undefined"). Major legal battles are likely to play out in the South in the coming years, where support for gay marriage is at 44 percent, lower than the rest of the country. The survey of 1,028 adults, conducted May 8-11, had a margin of error of five percentage points. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/107326/gay-marriage-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/107326/gay-marriage-poll/"},"headline":"American Support for Gay Marriage Hits Record High","datePublished":"2014-05-21T13:44:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:57:48.866Z","description":"More Americans than ever support gay marriages as a slew of states legalize legal state for same-sex couples","url":"https://time.com/107326/gay-marriage-poll/","keywords":["LGBT"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt/","name":"LGBT"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/107326/gay-marriage-poll/","name":"American Support for Gay Marriage Hits Record High"}}]}] ```