A majority of Americans support same-sex marriage

• YES polling indicates majority support for gay marriage

In 1988, 10% of Americans supported equal marriage rights. Now, after twenty-three years of rather intense political struggles, proponents of gay rights can plausibly claim a mandate. Polling over the last eight months strongly suggests that a majority of Americans—51% in the latest CNN poll—support same-sex marriage, and while public policy regrettably hasn’t caught up with public opinion yet, this is nonetheless a huge milestone for the gay rights movement, and civil rights as a whole. The aforementioned CNN poll was the fourth in eight months implying majority support.

• 2009 two years ago, opponents of gay marriage outweighed supporters by 11%
• 2012 in a year and a half, gay marriage advocates will outnumber opponents by 16% (if current trends continue)
• 4% per-year increase in support for gay marriage since 2008; usually, it’s usually around 1-2% per year source

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