A new Economist/YouGov poll found majority support for same-sex marriage in the United States, but at a lower level than several other recent national surveys.
The poll, released Tuesday, surveyed 1,559 U.S. adults from July 25-27 and reported a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. According to the survey, 54% of respondents said same-sex marriage should be legal, 32% said it should not be legal, and 13% said they were not sure.
Majority Support, but Below Other Polls
Same-sex marriage has been legal nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state bans on same-sex marriage. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which added federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
The Economist/YouGov figure is lower than results reported this year by other polling organizations. The Public Religion Research Institute placed support for same-sex marriage at 65% earlier this year, down from 69% in 2022. Gallup’s June survey also found 65% support and 32% opposition, down from Gallup’s record high of 71% support in 2022 and 2023.
Conservative Critic Points to Broader LGBT Debates
Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, addressed Gallup’s decline in an opinion piece published by The Christian Post. Perkins argued that public attitudes have been affected by broader cultural conflicts tied to LGBT issues.
“The promise of ‘marriage equality’ was that it was simply about allowing committed same-sex couples to formalize their relationships. Americans were assured that nothing else would change,” Perkins wrote. “But that is not what happened.”
Perkins pointed to pride events, corporate and institutional policies around sexual identity, commercial surrogacy, gender transition procedures for minors, and debates over trans-identified males in women’s spaces and sports as issues he believes have contributed to declining support.
“Once marriage is detached from the complementary union of man and woman, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain why mothers and fathers matter, why men and women are different, or why children have a right to both,” he wrote.
Economist/YouGov Has Tracked Lower Support
Recent Economist/YouGov polls have tended to show lower support for same-sex marriage than Gallup and PRRI. According to The Christian Post, Economist/YouGov measured support as low as 51% and opposition as high as 34% in May 2026, while support reached 55% in March, January and December 2025.
The latest survey still shows more Americans favor legal same-sex marriage than oppose it, but it also adds to evidence from multiple polls that support has moved down from recent record highs.
