While Americans' views on a variety of moral issues are mostly unchanged from a year ago, considerably fewer say same-sex relations are morally appropriate and more say the death penalty is permissible, according to a new poll.
According to Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll, 64% of Americans say that gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable, down 7 points from last year.
The percentage of U.S. adults who say same-sex relations are acceptable returned this year to a level last seen in 2019, according to Gallup. Despite the rollback in public opinion, Americans today are far more likely to say they approve of same-sex relations than in the past. In 2002, that figure was 38% and in 2012 it was 54%.
The 7-point decline in Americans' views on gay and lesbian relations is primarily the result of fewer Republicans approving. The survey found that 41% hold that view now, versus 56% who did a year ago.
Democrats and independents continue to be much more likely than Republicans to find same-sex relations morally acceptable, with 79% and 73% approving respectively.
Conversely, those who approve of the death penalty rose by 5 points to 60%.
The rise in the percentage of those who say the death penalty is morally acceptable follows three years of the figure being in the mid-50% range. According to Gallup, Americans' opinions on capital punishment have swung from a low of 54% who approved in 2020 to a high of 71% in 2006.
Republicans and independents are more likely to find the death penalty morally acceptable, with 82% of Republicans and 59% of independents saying the practice is morally acceptable. At 40%, Democrats' acceptance essentially stayed the same.
The poll found the most accepted practice was birth control, with 88% of Americans saying that birth control is morally acceptable. A full 78% said the same about divorce.
On the issue of sex between an unmarried man and woman, 72% say they approve, with 70% saying that having a baby outside of marriage is permissible.
At least 6 in 10 Americans said that gambling, embryonic stem cell research and buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur were morally appropriate, with between 60% and 69% approving of those three practices.
According to the survey, 53% said that doctor-assisted suicide is acceptable from a moral perspective.
The poll found that American adults are least likely to condone married men and women having an affair, human cloning and suicide.
The poll was conducted May 1-24 and surveyed 1,011 U.S. adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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