Not even 50 per cent of Republicans back marriage equality in the US, 10 years on from the landmark Supreme Court ruling that made it legal.

The US Supreme Court announced on 26 June 2015, that, by a vote of five to four, it had decided that same-sex marriage was a right, guaranteed by the due process clause, and the 14th Amendment, of the constitution.

The ruling in Obergefell vs Hodges paved the way for queer people across all 50 states to marry, regardless of their genders.

However, the latest research by Gallup has revealed that support among Republican voters has fallen from a high of 55 per cent three years ago to just 41 per cent today – its lowest point since 2016.

Largest gap in support in 29 years

On the flip side, support among Democrats has risen to 88 per cent, a record high. Backing from independents has remained fairly stable at 76 per cent, one point below its highest. 

The 47-point gap between Republicans and Democrats is the largest since Gallup began recording feelings 29 years ago but support nationally remained strong at 68 per cent, the survey revealed.

The fall in Republican support comes at a time when president Donald Trump has stepped up his assault on LGBTQ+ rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 588 bills that target the queer community. The proposed legislation includes efforts to ban gender-affirming care, redefine the meaning of “sex”, and bring in censorship in schoolrooms and colleges. 

Gallup’s Values and Beliefs poll also showed that 64 per cent of Americans consider gay or lesbian relations to be morally acceptable, the third identical figure in as many years, although down from 2022’s high of 71 per cent. A majority of citizens have considered same-sex relations to be morally acceptable since 2010.

Writing about the ruling in Obergefell vs Hodges, Justice Anthony Kennedy said: “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family.

“It would misunderstand these men and women to say that they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfilment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilisation’s oldest institutions.

“They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The constitution grants them that right.”

He went on to say the right to marry was fundamentally “inherent in the liberty of the person”, and was, therefore, protected by the due process clause, which prohibits the states from depriving any person of “life, liberty or property without due process of law”.

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