Fox News poll: 48 percent favor same-sex marriage, 51 percent say legalize marijuana

The country remains divided on same-sex marriage, according to the latest Fox News poll.

Currently 48 percent favor legalizing same-sex marriage, while 44 percent are opposed.

Just 32 percent of voters said gays should be allowed to marry legally when the question was first asked on a Fox News poll in 2003 (58 percent were opposed).  Since 2012, the portion favoring it has been between 42 and 49 percent.

Democrats favor it by a wide 62-32 percent margin.  That’s the opposite of how Republicans feel:  31 percent favor vs. 57 percent oppose.  Independents favor it by a 51-43 percent margin.

Sixty percent of voters ages 65 and over oppose it, while 61 percent of those under 45 are in favor.

Those most likely to favor gay marriage include people who say they “never” attend church (79 percent), self-identified liberals (70 percent), Democrats (62 percent), voters under 45 (61 percent) and Northeasterners (57 percent).

Groups most inclined to oppose it include those who identify as “very” conservative (75 percent) or as part of the Tea Party movement (68 percent), white evangelical Christians (68 percent) and regular church goers (64 percent).

Legalizing Marijuana

For the first time, the Fox News poll finds more than half (51 percent) favor legalizing marijuana, while 44 percent oppose it.  That’s little changed from last year when it was 50-43 percent (January 2014).

More voters were opposed than in favor as recently as 2013:  46 percent in favor vs. 49 percent opposed.

By a 15 percentage-point margin, voters under 35 (54 percent) are more likely than those 65+ (39 percent) to favor legalizing marijuana.  And by a 10-point margin, men (56 percent) are more likely than women (46 percent) to favor it.

Majorities of Democrats (62 percent) and independents (53 percent) support legalizing marijuana, while a majority of Republicans opposes it (59 percent).

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,012 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from April 19-21, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.