On Where Gay Nation Marriage, South Decade Is On Where Gay Nation Marriage, Was South a Decade Is Ago % who favor allowing gays and llesbians to marry legally
Support for same-sex marriage has been on the rise over the past 15 years. Across four Pew Research Center surveys this year, 48% of Americans say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, while 43% are opposed. Just four years ago, in the 2008 election cycle, 51% opposed making same-sex marriages legal and 39% supported it.
While support has grown in all regions of the country, it is far stronger in some than in others. In New England, 62% favor same-sex marriage, while 29% oppose it. People in the South express greater opposition. A majority (56%) in the central Southern states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas oppose same-sex marriage, while about a third (35%) favors it — amounting to a 27 percentage point difference compared with New England.
Attitudes toward gay marriage in the South are comparable to where the country as a whole was a decade ago.
On Where Gay Nation Marriage, South Decade Is  | On Where Gay Nation Marriage, Was South a Decade Is Ago  | % who favor allowing gays and llesbians  | to marry legally  | 70  | 62 New  | 60  | England  | 50 48  | 48  | 48 Total  | 40  | 35 South Central  | 35  | Central  | 231  | 10  | 2003  | 2012  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER, 2003-2012. Based on aggregated numbers  | from surveys conducted 2003-2012. aggregated 