About two-thirds of Republicans believe that the Supreme Court of the United States made a wrong decision when it allowed gay marriage in all 50 American states last week, an online poll revealed.
A poll recently conducted by Reuters and Ipsos revealed that 63 percent of Republican respondents oppose the Court's decision to invalidate the same-sex marriage ban in some states of the republic.
"Republicans would struggle to make opposition to same-sex marriage a winning issue in next November's general election because more than half of Americans support it, according to the online survey," Reuters said.
In an article published on Wednesday, Reuters reported the survey result gives more chances for presidential candidates who have criticised gay marriage to receive the Republican nomination for the US presidential polls in 2016.
These candidates include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is known be a vocal opponent of gay rights.
Earlier, Walker described the Court's decision as a grave mistake as he called for an congressional initiative that would amend the US Constitution to reaffirm the ability of states to continue to define what marriage should be.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey also showed that 42 percent of Republicans agreed with Walker, who insisted that same-sex marriage laws should be decided at the state level by referendum.
Meanwhile, Cruz promised to be at the front and centre of opposition to gay marriage, saying he will use his campaign to convince state authorities to ignore the court ruling.
The survey results could also put other leading Republican candidates like former Florida Governor Joh Ellis "Jeb" Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the safe zone for shying away from strong criticism of the Supreme Court ruling.
In a May 2015 Gallup poll, 60 percent of respondents said same-sex couples should have the same legal rights as traditional marriages, while 37 percent said they should not.
Reuters, in a separate article, said the result was up from 27 percent support for same-sex marriage recognition in March 1996, versus 68 percent of people opposing the issue.
Christopher Larimer, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, said the stance against gay marriage might appeal to older and conservative Republicans, who will cast their votes in the first nominating contests in Iowa for 2016 polls.
"Part of it is a generational thing," Larimer said, according to News Max.
