A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Republicans are continuing to grow more accepting of gay rights, particularly in the case of gay Republican candidates.

The poll finds that 68 percent of Republicans say they would be no less likely to support a well-qualified gay candidate than other candidates. Among all voters, including Democrats and independents, the poll finds that 83 percent said that knowledge that a congressional candidate is gay or lesbian would make no difference in how they vote. Only 14 percent said sexual orientation would make this less likely to vote for the candidate.

This election year has seen several openly gay Republican candidates vying for Congressional seats and it will be interesting to see if these poll results translate into actual ballot box gains.

This is one of the areas of public opinion that has seen the biggest change over the past 30 years. A Los Angeles Times poll asked this question of Americans in 1985 and 47 percent of respondents reported they were less likely to cast their ballot if a candidate was gay.

The poll also found that 59 percent of Republicans would prefer that states decide on same-sex marriage rather than the federal government. While liberals point to this as a way for Republicans who oppose gay marriage to keep the status quo, the GOP has long advocated for state's rights and this is hardly a surprising find.

Despite the growing support politically, about 63 percent of Republicans still personally oppose same-sex marriage and 60 percent say they would be upset if one of their children were gay.

Among Democrats and independents, about 30 percent say they would be upset if one of their children came out as gay.