A majority of Americans support federal recognition of legal same-sex marriages performed in the United States, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday. The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral arguments on this issue in a case on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
In total, 56 percent of respondents supported federal legal recognition of same-sex marriage while 43 percent opposed it.
The breakdown among party affiliation and generation is stark. Among those 18-34-years-old, 77 percent support federal recognition. Among those over 65-years-old, just 39 percent support it. Those in-between 34 and 65 hover around the 50 percent mark.
Along party lines, 75 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of independents and 28 percent of Republicans support recognition.
The poll also showed non-white respondents were more supportive (59 percent) than white respondents (54 percent), although the difference is within the higher margin of error for the minority subgroup.
The poll surveyed 1,021 adults between March 15-17 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points. The margins of error for the individual crosstabs are higher.
