A Majority for Marriage

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that a majority of Americans support marriage rights for gay couples.

According to the poll, 53% of respondents said that it should be legal for gay couples to marry. The majority support marks a double-digit shift from five years ago in the same poll, when 36% supported marriage equality.

"This newest poll confirms yet again that Americans have been on a journey of understanding, living up to the American value of treating others as we would all want to be treated and staying true to our nation's history of upholding the American promise of equality under the law," Freedom to Marry founder and president Evan Wolfson said in a Friday statement.

Speaking to the Post, Brian Brown, president of the anti-marriage equality group National Organization for Marriage, asserted that the wording of the question --"Do you think it should be legal or illegal for gay and lesbian couples to get married?" -- is fundamentally biased (the "legal or illegal" question in the ABC/Post poll has been consistent since 2003).

"The only poll that counts is a free and fair vote on the part of the people," Brown said. "We've seen these biased polls time and time again -- right before votes in which same-sex marriage is rejected. It's absurd. The people of this country have not changed their opinion about marriage."

According to the poll, Republicans and white evangelical Christians remain among the most opposed to gay marriage, while support among political independents, college-educated whites, and those not affiliated with a religious group rose substantially.

The national telephone poll was conducted March 10-13 among a random sample of 1,005 adults.

Read more on the poll here.