A slight majority, 52 percent, of Americans would support a national referendum making gay marriage legal in all 50 states, according to a Gallup poll released Monday, the Christian Post reports. Forty-three percent say they would vote against the referendum.The U.S. Constitution does not provide referendums as a policy-making tool (some states have them), so the question is hypothetical. The demographic groups who were most supportive of a national policy redefining marriage to include couples of the same gender were liberals (77 percent), those with no religious affiliation (76 percent), Democrats (70 percent), young adults aged 18 to 34 (69 percent), those who rarely or never attend church (67 percent), Catholics (60 percent) and those who live in the East (62 percent) and West (57 percent). The demographic groups that had a majority opposing the referendum were those who attend church weekly (73 percent), conservatives (67 percent), Republicans (66 percent), Protestants (58 percent), those aged 55 and older (58 percent), and Southerners (51 percent). Women were more supportive (56 percent) than men (48 percent), and whites were slightly more supportive (54 percent) than non-whites (51 percent). The poll "adds to the body of evidence in Gallup trends that public opinion on gay marriage has reached a tipping point, whereby the majority now clearly supports it," Gallup wrote. "Nevertheless, the issue remains highly divisive, as large majorities of left-leaning, nonreligious, and younger Americans endorse it, while right-leaning, religious, and older Americans still oppose it."
