PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup finds 64% of Americans saying gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should be legal, the highest since it first asked the question more than 30 years ago.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 5-8.

Americans' support for legal gay relations has been as low as 32%, in 1986, but increased to 47% by 1989 and went above the majority level in 2001 for the first time. After peaking at 60% in May 2003, public support dropped that same year, likely as a backlash against a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Texas anti-sodomy law and gave gays and lesbians new legal protections in that state. By 2006, Americans returned to the more supportive level seen previously, and generally held there until the increase this year.

Americans are somewhat less likely to consider gay or lesbian relations to be morally acceptable than to say they should be legal. However, the 56% who consider gay or lesbian relations morally acceptable is the highest Gallup has measured since this question was first asked in 2001.

In the same poll, Gallup also finds support for gay marriage increasing to the majority level for the first time.

No Public Consensus on Origins of Same-Sex Orientation

Though public acceptance of gay and lesbian relations has increased, Americans remain divided as to the origins of same-sex orientation. Forty-two percent say being gay or lesbian is "due to factors such as upbringing and environment," while 40% believe it is "something a person is born with." Prior to 2001, Americans were more inclined to think being gay or lesbian was a product of one's environment.

Americans who believe same-sex orientation is inherent in individuals are much more likely to support legal gay and lesbian relations, and much more likely to view them as morally acceptable, than are those who believe it has its origins in environmental factors.

Politically, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that people are born gay and lesbian, and thus are also more inclined to think gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable and should be legal.

However, Americans' views on what causes gay/lesbian sexual orientation seem to be the most strongly associated with their support for gay rights. A statistical analysis of the data reveals that Americans' beliefs about the origins of same-sex orientation are much more strongly related to their views of the legality and morality of gay or lesbian relations than to party identification, ideology, religious commitment, age, and other demographic characteristics, taking all those factors into account simultaneously. The reverse is also true: those most supportive of gay rights are much more likely to believe people are born gay or lesbian than that it is a product of their environment, controlling for other attitudinal and demographic factors.

Bottom Line

Americans are now as accepting of gays and lesbians as at any point in the last three decades, if not in U.S. history. This greater acceptance extends to their views of the morality of gay and lesbian relations, of their legality, and of whether marriage should legally be granted to same-sex couples.

If the trends continue and political leaders are responsive to public opinion on the issue, one would expect more states and the federal government to expand the legal rights of gays and lesbians, including the right to legally marry.