Poll: Half The Country Believes Constitution Protects Gay Marriage

Emily Gavin and Eliza Callard kiss after getting their marriage license this morning at the Register of Wills at City Hall in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Same-sex couples in Pennsylvania clamored for ma... Emily Gavin and Eliza Callard kiss after getting their marriage license this morning at the Register of Wills at City Hall in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Same-sex couples in Pennsylvania clamored for marriage licenses after a judge ruled to allow the state to join the rest of the Northeast in legalizing gay weddings, with Philadelphia offices staying open late to handle a rush of applications. Under state law, couples must wait three days after their application to get married unless a sympathetic judge grants a waiver. (AP Photo/The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ed Hille) MORE LESS
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The country might be ready for the Supreme Court to take a cue from the judges who have struck down gay marriage bans in recent months, according to a poll out Friday.

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent flagged a significant datapoint in the latest ABC/WaPo survey.

Regardless of your own preference on the issue, do you think that the part of the U.S. Constitution providing Americans with equal protection under the law does or does not give gays and lesbians the legal right to marry?
Does: 50
Does not: 43

Sargent wrote this might be an even bigger milestone for gay rights than the sweeping shift in public attitudes about same-sex marriage in general.

The poll found a solid majority — 56 percent — in favor of gay nuptials. But the datapoint Sargent highlighted will only deepen the belief that the Supreme Court will weigh in on the question, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Although the Supreme Court didn’t declare a Constitutional right to gay marriage in last summer’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, lower court judges have repeatedly cited the case in striking down bans in several states.

Just last month, judges in Arkansas, Idaho and Pennsylvania ruled that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

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