Most Americans — 58% — think there should be some legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples, according to a new poll commissioned by CBS News.

The poll found that 30% favor full marriage equality while 28% think gay/lesbian couples should be able to form civil unions. CBS News says that is the highest favorable response rate for gay marriage since the network started taking the poll in 2004.

Americans’ views on this issue have changed since 2004, CBS News reports, although opinion has not changed substantially in the last two years. In November of 2004 (soon after the presidential election) just 21 percent of Americans supported the idea of same-sex couples being allowed to marry.

The strongest support for same-sex marriage in this poll, as has been the case with similar surveys, came from younger people. 40% of respondents between 18 and 29 years-old said lesbian or gay couples should be allowed to marry while only 17% of those 65 or older thought so. For other age groups, the favorable response was 30% or 31%.

Regionally, the strongest support came from people living in the West with 41% supporting marriage equality. Only 23% of those in the South said they thought gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry. Support for marriage equality registered at 33% in the Northeast and 27% in the Midwest.

Most of those — 57% — who said they attend church every week said there should be no legal recognition of same-sex relationships, while only 22% of those who said they never attend church felt that way. 48% of non-church-goers think gay or lesbian couples should be allowed to marry.

Only 9% of those who identified themselves as “white evangelicals” supported marriage equality while 37% of those who identified as “Catholics” did so. In fact, a majority of Catholics — 66% — supported either civil unions or marriage for same-sex couples.

The pollsters surveyed a random sample of of 1,038 adults nationwide, including 930 registered voters. They were interviewed by telephone from May 30 to June 3, 2008, which is more than two weeks after the California Supreme Court decision authorizing marriage equality in that state.

Full article: CBS Poll: Changing Views On Gay Marriage, Most Americans Say Same-Sex Couples Should Have Legal Recognition | CBS News

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