A new Gallup poll found that the Supreme Court's historic 5-4 ruling declaring same-sex marriage a Constitutional right has not significantly impacted Americans' views on the issue. At least not yet, says Gallup.
The poll, which used data from July 8-12 (around two weeks after the ruling), found that 58 percent of Americans believe gay marriages should be valid, a statistically insignificant change from the 60 percent that approved of it in May, before Obergefell v. Hodges.
Opinions on gay marriage continue to be split along party lines, with 74 percent of Democrats viewing it as valid, while only 30 percent of Republicans see it as valid (67% disapproving). Independents approve of same-sex marriage, but to a lesser degree than Democrats, while 35 percent disapprove.
Views on SSM are also clearly divided generationally, with younger demographics consistently approving of it more than older generations:
Gallup suggested, however, that the ruling would eventually impact Americans' views of same-sex marriage, citing the example of the 1967 ruling that legalized interracial marriage:
Though the Supreme Court's decision has not immediately influenced Americans' overall opinion on the issue of same-sex marriage, this is not to suggest it will not affect opinion in the long run.
Even after a 1967 Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriages, Gallup's polling in 1968 found that only one in five Americans (20%) approved of such marriages. It took three more decades to reach a majority of support.
The path to legality of interracial marriage differed from same-sex marriage, though, in that the Supreme Court led public opinion by legalizing something that Americans largely disapproved of at the time. Approval of same-sex marriage, however, has ascended significantly faster, and has enjoyed majority support for a few years before the court's decision. Still, a long view of the trend on gay marriage illustrates that support for it was steady and incremental, and that the movement's big victories in statewide ballot initiatives and legislature-enacted laws had limited effect on public opinion at large.
