Poll finds that Trump voters still oppose gay marriage
(Getty)
A new poll has found that two years on from the Supreme Court’s ruling on equal marriage, Trump voters still do not support same-sex unions.
The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll looked at attitudes towards same-sex marriage two years on from the US Supreme Court’s ruling in the case Obergefell v Hodges, which cemented marriage equality in all 50 states.
The poll found that 60 percent of voters in the US now support same-sex marriage, a record high.
The number represents a dramatic seven-point surge in support from 2013, when only 53 percent expressed their support for equality.
The surge may in part be due to generational turnover, as younger people are much more likely to support equality, but is also possibly down to increased awareness of LGBT issues.
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79 percent of Clinton voters and 77 percent of Democrats said they supported same-sex marriage.
However, support was far lower on the right.
Just 42 percent of Republicans believe gay couples should be allowed to get married, and 37 percent of Trump voters.
A separate question about identity found that 26 percent of Americans identify as “a supporter of the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman”.
This is higher than the 17 percent who identified themselves as “a supporter of the gay rights movement.
Ten percent of voters said that gay rights would impact they vote in the election, while 12 percent said the same of gender equality issues.
The poll also asked if people were comfortable about “American society and the country becoming more diverse and tolerant of different lifestyles, gender roles, languages, cultures and experiences”.
The poll found that 55 percent of Americans were comfortable with the changes,
But just 28 percent of Trump voters said so, reflecting a widespread anger among the Republican leader’s voter base.
Pollster Bill McInturff said: “America has gone through rapid change, and the results of the Social Trend survey tell us that a majority of Americans are now comfortable with our increasingly diverse country.
“But this sits at the heart of the Clinton-Trump divide, as 81 percent of Clinton voters say they are ‘comfortable’ with these changes, compared to only 28 percent of Trump voters.”
The Trump administration has largely pandered to anti-LGBT voices, rolling back actions taken to protect the LGBT community under Barack Obama.
Though it has not mobilised against same-sex marriage, the Trump administration has argued against discrimination protections for gay people in court battles.
The Justice Department filed a legal brief arguing against legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
