Poll: Large majority in US believe equal marriage should be decided on state level
With the US Supreme Court expected to give a decision in two landmark cases this month, a large majority of US citizens believe that equal marriage laws should be decided on state level, rather than the federal government.
Despite the fact that a majority of respondents support equal marriage, the New York Times and CBS News poll found that, out of the 1,022 adults asked, 60% said that they thought states should decide on equal marriage.
Just 33% said they thought the federal government should decide on whether same-sex marriage is legal.
Steve Koivisto, a supporter of equal marriage, told the New York Times: “We’re sort of set up for things to go through the states, and then filter up to the federal government… The time will come soon enough when enough of these states will have legalised it, for the federal government to make it law.”
The survey also found, however, that 56% of respondents thought the federal government should legally recognise the marriages of same-sex couples, and that they should be allowed the same federal benefits as married, same-sex couples. 39% of people said they were against that idea.
Nine US states, and Washington DC currently allow equal marriage, and it will become law in Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota in the summer.
The Supreme Court is soon expected to issue a ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans federal benefits for married same-sex couples on a federal level, and California’s Proposition 8, which banned equal marriage on state-level.
