Poll: Shockingly, Tea Party Shows Nil Support for Marriage Equality

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) speaks as a man protests the Trayvon Martin killing during a Tea Party rally in front of the Supreme Court

A new poll released by The Washington Post finds that while overall public support is on the upswing, members of the Tea Party are far less likely than any other political group to support marriage equality.

Conducted by the Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the poll asked more than 3,000 adults the question, "Do you think it should be LEGAL or ILLEGAL for gay and lesbian couples to get married?"

Overall, 53% of adults answered yes, indicating their support for marriage equality, and 42% answered no, responses that keep with recent trends showing a majority of Americans in favor of marriage equality. Breaking it down via party lines, the Post notes that 68% of Democrats expressed support for marriage equality, while 57% of Independents, and only 30% of Republicans did.

Among the Tea Party movement, one of 13 "political party clusters" used to group responses, just 6% of people responded in favor of marriage equality, with 94% opposed. This is the lowest rate of support, and highest rate of opposition, of any of the other categories polled.

"Perhaps what many might find most shocking is that the Tea Party, since its inception, has claimed their only concerns are smaller government and lower taxes, despite all evidence to the contrary," writes David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement on the poll's unsurprising results. "This certainly refocuses that claim."

The party cluster with the highest support for marriage equality is the Democratic subsection "urban liberals," with 93% in favor.