Ted Eytan on Flickr

Roughly two-thirds of likely voters in US battleground states support legislation which protects marriage equality at a national level, according to a new study from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

In these states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), a law of this kind was supported at a rate of 64% in favour to 36% opposed.

More women (69%) than men (58%) were found to support federal marriage equality protections, though no significant differences based on race and ethnicity were identified.

More than half (55%) of Christians support the legislation.

“Marriage equality has been nothing but positive, both for the LGBTQ+ community and for our society as a whole – and that’s reflected in this polling,” said Joni Madison, the Interim President of the HRC.

She continued: “Despite this, in the aftermath of the Dobbs ruling, many couples fear for the future of marriage equality.

“That’s why it is more important than ever to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, and reflect the voice of the 71% of Americans nationwide who support marriage equality.”

The new poll comes just a few months after Gallup found that more than seven in 10 (71%) Americans support same-sex marriage more generally.

After the leaking of a draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to an abortion at a national level for more than 50 years in the United States, President Joe Biden warned that marriage equality could be at risk.

Speaking on 11 May at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Chicago, he said: “It’s not just the brutality of taking away a woman’s right to her body … but it also, if you read the opinion … basically says there’s no such thing as the right to privacy.

“If that holds … mark my words: They are going to go after the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.”