Defying the Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement this weekend saying state workers can refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses on religious grounds. According to the American Values Atlas, based on over 40,000 interviews nationwide, Texas residents are divided on the issue of same-sex marriage: 48 percent of Texans favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, while 43 percent oppose.
Like Americans overall, Texans are divided by age, party, religion, and race. Texas residents under the age of 30 are more than twice as likely as those aged 65 and older to support same-sex marriage—65 percent vs. 30 percent. Texas Republicans and Democrats also differ markedly: 58 percent of Texas Republicans oppose same-sex marriage, while an identical number of Texas Democrats express support (58 percent).
In Texas, the religiously unaffiliated (73 percent) and white mainline Protestants (60 percent) are the most supportive of same-sex marriage, while white evangelical Protestants (66 percent) and Hispanic Protestants (62 percent) express the greatest opposition. No racial group in Texas voices a majority support for same-sex marriage.
For more in public opinion on same-sex marriage, see PRRI’s “Everything You Need to Know about Same-sex Marriage for the Upcoming SCOTUS Case” and explore the LGBT portal of the American Values Atlas.