A new survey indicates that public support for same-sex marriage has declined, continuing a broader downward trend from the record levels reported by several major polling organizations in recent years.
The Economist/YouGov survey, released Tuesday, gathered responses from 1,559 U.S. adults between July 25 and 27. Participants were questioned about various political and social issues, including whether same-sex marriage should remain legal.
According to the poll, 54% of respondents said same-sex marriage should be legal, while 32% said it should not. Another 13% answered that they were “not sure.”
Although a majority of Americans continue to support same-sex marriage, the 54% figure is lower than the results of several other recent surveys. A Public Religion Research Institute poll released earlier this year found that 65% supported same-sex marriage, a decrease from the organization’s record high of 69% in 2022.
Gallup’s latest survey on LGBT-related issues, published in June, similarly found 65% support for same-sex marriage and 32% opposition. The support level was down from the record 71% recorded in both 2022 and 2023.
Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, discussed the decline shown in Gallup’s findings in an opinion article published by The Christian Post.
“The promise of ‘marriage equality’ was that it was simply about allowing committed same-sex couples to formalize their relationships. Americans were assured that nothing else would change,” he wrote. “But that is not what happened.”
Perkins attributed the decline to several cultural developments, including “pride parades in major cities where public nudity and sexually explicit displays are celebrated in full view of families and children,” “major corporations, universities, and professional sports organizations pressuring employees and athletes to affirm an ever-expanding list of sexual identities” and “a growing commercial surrogacy industry that intentionally deprives children of either their mother, their father, or both.”
He also pointed to gender transition procedures involving trans-identified minors and policies permitting trans-identified males to enter women’s spaces and compete in women’s sports as additional reasons he believes support for same-sex marriage has weakened.
“Once marriage is detached from the complementary union of man and woman, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain why mothers and fathers matter, why men and women are different, or why children have a right to both,” he concluded.
Recent Economist/YouGov polling has generally registered less support for same-sex marriage than other national surveys. Support fell as low as 51%, while opposition reached 34%, in May 2026. By comparison, support reached 55% in surveys conducted in March 2026, January 2026 and December 2025.
