GOP support for same-sex marriage keeps dropping

In 2022, a solid majority of Republicans said same-sex marriage should be legal. Now, just 46% say the same.

• Support for same-sex marriage is continuing to fall among Republicans, new Gallup polling shows.
• Overall support for same-sex marriage has seemingly plateaued around 70%.
• The polling comes amid a years-long conservative backlash against LGBTQ+ rights

Support for same-sex marriage among Republicans is continuing to slide.

According to new polling from Gallup, just 46% of Republicans say that marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized as legally valid.

That's down from 49% last year. Support for same-sex marriage peaked at 55% among Republicans in 2021 and 2022.

Just 40% of Republicans said that same-sex marriage is morally acceptable. That's a minor change from last year, but represents a steep drop from 2022, when 56% of Republicans answered in the affirmative.

Overall support for the legality of same-sex marriage in America has hovered around 70%, largely plateauing after years of steady increase.

In many ways, 2022 was a high watermark for GOP support of same-sex marriage.

That year, 12 Republican senators and 39 House Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill to protect same-sex marriage amid concerns about the practice's standing after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Justice Clarence Thomas had written in a concurring opinion that he believed the precedent should be revisited.

Since then, Republicans have waged an ongoing culture war against portions of the LGBTQ movement, focusing in particular on access to gender-affirming care for transgender people.

At times, that movement has spilled over into broader attacks on Pride Month and gay people in general.

"I think people are conflating same-sex rights with transgender rights, and they are very different issues," Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, one of the Republicans who voted for the same-sex marriage bill, told Business Insider last year.

Mike Johnson, who has a history of opposition to LGBTQ+ rights — was elected speaker by House Republicans last fall. One of the three speaker candidates who failed to win before him — Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota — lost in part due to his support for same-sex marriage.

Yet Johnson hasn't taken aim at same-sex marriage in his new position, and over the weekend, he campaigned for a gay Republican candidate in a New York swing seat.