The American public is split on last week’s Supreme Court’s decisions to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 in California, with 45 percent of people approving of the decisions and 40 percent disapproving, according to a Pew Research poll released Monday.
The sharpest split was along partisan lines: 61 percent of Democrats approved, while 63 percent of Republicans disapproved. The poll also showed divisions along gender and age lines; 39 percent of men approved of the decision, while 50 percent of women approved of the decision; 58 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 18-29 approved, while 36 percent of those over the age of 65 did.
The poll also found that most people were aware of the decision and its implications, with two-thirds of people saying they knew that gay marriage was now up to the states.
In contrast, most people were unaware that the Supreme Court struck down a key component of the Voting Rights Act that same week. Only 34 percent of people knew about this decision.
The survey was conducted between June 27-30 and polled 1,003 adults with a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
