Fifty-three percent of Americans support making gay marriage legal, a Gallup poll showed on Friday, a marked reversal from just a year ago when an equal majority opposed same-sex matrimony。

　　The latest Gallup findings are in line with two earlier national polls this spring that show support for legally recognized gay marriage has, in recent months, gained a newfound majority among Americans。

　　Gallup said Democrats and political independents accounted for the entire shift in its survey compared to last year, when only 44 percent of all respondents favored gay marriage, while 53 percent were opposed. The percentage of Republicans favoring same-sex matrimony held steady at 28 percent。

　　Same-sex marriage remains a highly contested issue in U.S. politics, but homosexual couples have won the right to legally wed in five states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa -- and the District of Columbia. Gay couples have faced setbacks elsewhere, and no statewide initiative to legalize gay marriage has ever won a majority vote。

　　The growing support for gay marriage comes after President Barack Obama signed into law legislation in December to repeal the ban on openly gay men and women serving in the military under a 17-year-old law known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

　　Gallup noted the policy change, but said it was unclear if that influenced Americans' attitudes about same-sex unions。

　　"The trend toward marriage equality is undeniable -- and irreversible," Joe Solmonese, president of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement。

　　Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, said the poll shows her fellow opponents of gay matrimony have been "shamed" into silence。

　　"Polls are becoming very sensitive to wording, and the wording being used in the media are not predicting accurately what happens at the actual polls when people vote," she said。

　　In a sign of a generation gap, Gallup found 70 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 support gay marriage, compared to only 39 percent among those 55 and older。

　　上周五发布的一项盖洛普民意调查显示，53%的美国人支持同性婚姻合法化，而在一年之前，有同样多的人对同性婚姻表示反对，形势发生了明显的逆转。

　　最新的盖洛普民意调查结果和今春的两项全国性民意调查结果一致，这表明支持同性婚姻合法化的美国人在近几个月来占据了绝大多数，这是前所未有的。

　　盖洛普称，和去年的调查相比，民主党人和无党派人士的态度转变是造成这一逆转的主要原因。去年受访者中只有44%支持同性婚姻，而有53%反对同性婚姻。支持同性婚姻的共和党人比例稳定地保持在28%。

　　同性婚姻依然是美国政坛备受争议的问题之一，但是同性恋情侣已经在五个州赢得结成合法夫妻的权利，这些州分别是马萨诸塞州、康涅狄格州、佛蒙特州、新罕布什尔州和衣阿华州，准许同性婚姻的还有哥伦比亚特区。同性婚姻在美国其他地方则遭到了排斥，而且目前将同性婚姻在全国范围内合法化的提案还未能获得多数票。

　　同性婚姻的支持率是在贝拉克•奥巴马总统去年12月签署法案废除 “不问不说”禁令后开始上升的。这项17年前订立的禁令禁止在军中服役的同性恋男性和女性公开自己的性取向，否则将被军方开除。

　　盖洛普指出了这一政策变动，但称其并不清楚该政策是否影响了美国人对同性婚姻的态度。

　　同性恋权利保护组织“人权运动”主席乔•索尔蒙内赛在一项声明中说：“婚姻平等化的趋势是不可否认的，也是不可逆转的。”

　　全国保护婚姻组织的主席玛姬•盖拉格尔说，从民意调查结果来看，和她一样反对同性婚姻的盟友们在压力下羞于表达观点，只好保持沉默。

　　她说：“民意调查在措辞上变得十分谨慎，单凭媒体所用的措辞并不能准确地知道人们实际投票时发生的情况。”

　　盖洛普的调查结果反映出在同性婚姻观点上的代沟。调查发现，年龄在18岁至34岁之间的受访者中有70%支持同性婚姻，而55岁及以上的受访者只有39%支持同性婚姻。