Americans' support for gay marriage reaches new record high: poll

Sixty-one percent of Americans say that marriage between same-sex couples should be recognized by the law as valid, found a Gallup poll released Thursday.

This is the highest rate recorded in relative Gallup polls since 1996. U.S. public support for same-sex marriage has more than doubled over the past two decades.

When Gallup first polled on the issue in 1996, only 27 percent said such marriages should be recognized by law. Majority support was recorded for the first time in 2011, and the percentage has since been growing, Gallup found.

The poll comes amid the 2016 presidential race, where social issues such as gay marriage do not play a major role.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has been fairly muted on the issue compared with some his Republican opponents, particularly those who backed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

While Trump says he opposes same-sex marriage, the issue does not appear on his campaign website, and he has been referred to as "the most gay-friendly Republican nominee for president ever" by the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization for gay Republicans, Gallup noted.

Attitudes on gay marriage have been shifting since Gallup started measuring them. This has taken place across all political party and age groups, with each demographic subgroup demonstrating greater acceptance this year.

Support for gay marriage has consistently been highest among adults younger than 30 years, but support declines with each step up the age scale.

This year marks the first time in Gallup's trend that the majority of adults aged 65 and older said gay marriage should be legal. Fifty-three percent of Americans aged 65 and older now support same-sex marriage.

That is still well below the 83 percent support among 18- to 29-year-olds, the highest support among the age groups, Gallup said. Endit