Majority of Americans satisfied with acceptance of gays, lesbians: poll

A slight majority of Americans -- 53 percent -- say they are satisfied with the acceptance of gays and lesbians in the U.S., the same level as last year, but much higher than levels seen over the last decade, a Gallup poll released Thursday found.

The poll was released just a week after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to accept four cases involving whether states can constitutionally prohibit same-sex marriages, which could set the stage for major changes in laws regarding gay marriage.

Only recently have a majority of Americans said they were satisfied with the state of acceptance of gay and lesbian people in the country, surpassing the 50 percent mark last year for the first time. However, since 2005, satisfaction has grown more on this than any other issue that Gallup has asked Americans about, the poll found.

Indeed, in May 2014, Gallup found that 58 percent of Americans felt gay and lesbian relations were morally acceptable. At the same time, the percentage of Americans who want less acceptance of gays is ticking downward, with 14 percent of Americans wanting less acceptance, according to Gallup.

As the percentage of Americans satisfied with the acceptance of gays and lesbians has increased markedly since the mid-2000s, there has been a much greater drop in the percentage who are dissatisfied and want less acceptance of gays and lesbians, from 30 percent to 14 percent, Gallup found.

The general trend suggests that over time more Americans classify themselves as satisfied. To many pro-gay supporters, 2014 was a banner year in gay rights as the number of states allowing marriage equality nearly doubled. Endi