Poll: 54% of American Catholics support the freedom to marry

Quinnipiac University released the results of a new survey today that demonstrate increased support for the freedom to marry among a number of key demographics.

Most notably, 54 percent of American Catholic voters surveyed said that they support marriage for same-sex couples.

The poll reinforces what we already know: That increasingly, fair-minded Catholics are supporting the freedom to marry despite positions taken by Church hierarchy. These people of faith understand that their religion has called on them to fully commit to each other, and that marriage is the only way to make this lifetime commitment.

Many Catholics in recent years have reflected on why marriage matters and come to understand that supporting the freedom to marry for same-sex couples is consistent with their beliefs that all people are created in God's image - and that the greatest commitment is love. 

They have also increasingly grown to understand that marriage laws that extend the freedom to marry to same-sex couples in states across the country apply to civil marriage and have fair protections of religious freedom that ensure that religious institutions that do not support marriage for same-sex couples will not be forced to perform these marriages. 

Freedom to Marry applauds the growing groundswell of support for the freedom to marry in a diverse array of communities - including Catholics - and encourages even greater growth in the months to come.