The Hill News

A slim majority of Americans believe there should be a right to same-sex marriage, according to a new CNN poll.

Just over half of respondents, 52 percent, say there should be a constitutional right for gays and lesbians to get married. When asked whether such a right currently exists, that number drops to 49 percent. 

CNN notes that young Americans were much more likely to support gay marriage:

The gap widens dramatically when age is taken i! nto account. Nearly six in ten Americans under the age of 50 say gay rights are protected under the Constitution. Only 38 percent of Americans over the age of 50 say the same thing.

"This is one of the few instances when independents side with one party rather than falling in between the Dems and the GOP," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "56 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Independents think the Constitution conveys the right to marry to same-sex couples. Only a quarter of all Republicans agree."