Poll: Support for Marriage Equality Hits High Mark

According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, 53% of Americans support marriage rights for same-sex couples — a record high for the survey — while opposition has plummeted to unprecedented lows.

Only 39% of Americans said they opposed marriage equality, according to the poll, released two weeks after President Obama’s announcement that he supports same-sex marriage.

Other significant findings:

-Support for marriage has risen by 17 percentage points in the poll, from 36% in 2006 to 53% today.

-Though the poll had a small sample of African Americans, 59% of those surveyed said they supported same-sex marriage, with 41% opposed.

-Americans are split on how marriage should be legislated: 49% said that states should have authority on the issue, while 46% said that the federal government should make one law. In his announcement, the president maintained that marriage should be left up to individual states.

-55% of those polled said President Obama’s support for marriage equality was not a major factor in supporting or opposing his re-election bid. Twenty percent said the announcement earlier this month was a major reason to support Obama’s candidacy, while 23% said it was a major reason to oppose.

Read more on the new poll via WaPo here.