Most Americans Believe Gay Marriage Recognition Is 'Inevitable'

Even a majority of those who oppose it

About 72% of Americans say legal recognition of same-sex marriage is "inevitable," a survey released today finds.

This number includes 85% of same-sex marriage supporters as well as 59% of its opponents, according to the Pew Research Center's survey. The telephone survey was conducted May 1-5 among 1,504 U.S. adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

"As more states legalize gay marriage or give equal status, the question in our minds was how the public sees the trajectory on this issue," says Michael Dimock, the report's lead author and director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. "Do they see a future in which gay marriage is going to be the rule, not the exception, in American society?"