Support for same-sex marriage in the U.S. has fallen from record highs as Republican voters increasingly break from broader public support for marriage equality.
Gallup’s latest survey found that 65% of Americans support legal recognition of same-sex marriages, down from 71% in 2022 and 2023, while Republican support has dropped to 37% after reaching majority support just a few years ago.
The findings reflect a widening partisan divide over an issue that has remained legally protected nationwide since the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision.
A sharp Republican reversal
The decline is concentrated among Republicans, whose support for same-sex marriage fell from 55% in 2021 and 2022 to 37% this year, according to Gallup. Support among Democrats and independents has remained comparatively stable, leaving Republican voters increasingly separated from the broader national majority on marriage equality. Gallup surveyed 1,001 U.S. adults from May 1 to May 17 and reported a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
“The decline in support for same-sex marriage among Republicans has contributed significantly to the recent drop in national support,” Gallup Senior Editor Jeffrey Jones wrote in the report.
Similar declines appeared in Gallup’s broader measures of LGBTQ+ acceptance. Sixty-two percent of Americans said gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable, down from 71% in 2022 and the lowest level Gallup has recorded since 2016. Among Republicans, 35% said same-sex relations are morally acceptable, compared with majorities of Democrats and independents.
How far attitudes shifted
Despite the recent decline, support for same-sex marriage remains dramatically higher than when Gallup first measured the issue nearly three decades ago. In 1996, just 27% of Americans said marriages between same-sex couples should be legally recognized. Support crossed the majority threshold for the first time in 2011 and continued climbing for more than a decade before reaching a record 71% in 2022 and 2023.
More than a decade has passed since the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision in 2015 legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Congress reinforced those protections through the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, requiring federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages and providing safeguards should the court revisit the issue in the future.
The legal changes have reshaped family life across the country. According to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, approximately 823,000 married same-sex couples were living in the U.S. as of 2025.
Culture wars reshape attitudes
Growing disputes over transgender rights have reshaped the political conversation surrounding LGBTQ+ issues since support for same-sex marriage reached record highs earlier this decade. Gallup’s survey found that only 38% of Americans now say changing one’s gender is morally acceptable, down from 46% in 2021.
Republican-led legislatures have advanced measures affecting transgender athletes, gender-affirming care and school policies related to gender identity. Earlier this year, Idaho’s House of Representatives approved a resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Some conservative groups have also renewed calls to revisit legal protections surrounding same-sex marriage. Last year, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution urging the reversal of Obergefell, though such efforts have not gained significant traction at the federal level.
This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.
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