SUPPORT for same-sex marriage has reached a record high in Scotland, with more than two-thirds of people agreeing that gay couples should be allowed to tie the knot.
A total of 68 per cent believe gay or lesbian couples should have the right to marry, up from just over two-fifths of the public (41 per cent) in 2002 and 61 per cent of people in 2010.
The figures from ScotCen Social Research's Scottish Social Attitudes Survey were released to mark the first same-sex marriages coming into force.
Certain groups that have been more likely to oppose same-sex marriage have become considerably more liberal in their views.
In 2010 less than a third (29 per cent) of over 65s supported gay marriage compared to 44 percent in 2014, a 15 percentage point increase. However the over 65s remain the only age group in which less than half support same-sex marriage.
Tom French, policy and public affairs coordinator for the Equality Network, said: "Support for same-sex marriage in Scotland is now the norm.
"With the first same-sex marriages taking place this morning and public support at a record high, we are sending out a strong message to the world about the kind of fair and equal country we all want Scotland to be."
While same-sex marriage is most widely supported by those of no religious affiliation (81 per cent), the survey suggested about 60 per cent of those who identified themselves as Christian backed it.
A Church of Scotland spokesman said that while "we recognise that the legal landscape has changed", the Kirk has "not been supportive of this legislation" and had no plans to change its position.
xref page 4
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article