Generations and Same-Sex Marriage % who favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry
The accompanying chart shows the percent that support allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally across generations from 2005 to 2015. Over this time period, support for same-sex marriage has grown from 36% to 55% among the public overall. (See this interactive for opinions of same-sex marriage over time.)
Millennials and Gen Xers came into the population more supportive of allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally than older generations, and those greater levels of support have persisted over time. As a result, some of the explanation for an overall shift in attitudes about same-sex marriage is attributable to a “generational replacement” as members of older, less supportive, generations pass away, they are “replaced” in the adult population by members of younger, more supportive, generations entering adulthood.
Generations and Same-Sex Marriage  | % who favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry  | legally  | Millennial  | 70  | born after 1980  | 59 Gen X  | 1965 1980  | Boomer  | 5  | 1946-1964  | Silent  | 39  | 3  | 1928-1945  | 23  | 2005  | 2010  | 2015  | Figures based on all surveys conducted in each year.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 