The percentage of Americans favoring the legalization of gay marriage reached a new high in an ABC/Washington Post poll released Monday.
According to the poll, 58 percent of respondents said they supported gay marriage being legal. That's a 26-point increase from just eight years ago, a testament to the effectiveness of the gay rights movement in that time span. It's also up 5 points from a poll taken last August.
The poll also found that Americans believe the U.S. Constitution should trump state law when deciding the legality of gay marriage. Overall, 64 percent of respondents said gay marriage should be determined by the Constitution, while 33 percent said it should be decided on a state-by-state basis.
A majority of Democrats (72 percent) and Independents (62 percent) said gay marriage should be legal, according to the poll. But just 34 percent of Republicans favor legalizing gay marriage — still an 18-point rise in the past eight years.
Support has also risen dramatically among all age groups. An astounding 81 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds now support legalizing gay marriage, up from 57 percent eight years ago. And a near-majority of those 65 and older (44 percent) now offer support, up 26 points over the past eight years.
One more surprise from the poll: 31 percent of self-described white Protestant Evangelicals now support gay marriage, up from virtually none (7 percent) in 2004.
Here's a chart looking at how much opinions have shifted over the past 10 years:
The poll comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments for cases dealing with California's Proposition 8 law and the Defense of Marriage Act later this month. In recent days, gay marriage has found bipartisan public support in Republican Sen. Rob Portman and former Secretary of State (and potential 2016 candidate) Hillary Clinton.
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