Americans' support for same-sex marriage declining: poll

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, July 30, 2026

A new poll shows reduced support for same-sex marriage compared to other recent surveys, as multiple polls that have found a supermajority of Americans back same-sex marriage continue to record declines from the record highs measured in recent years.

The Economist/YouGov poll, released Tuesday, was based on responses from 1,559 U.S. adults collected between July 25–27, with a margin of error of ±3.3 percentage points. The survey asked Americans for their opinions on a wide range of issues, including the legality of same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in all 50 states since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, codifying the Obergefell decision into federal law.

The survey found that 54% of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, while 32% think it shouldn't be. The remaining 13% said they were "not sure." 

While 54% still constitutes majority support, and a significantly larger share of respondents favor same-sex marriage than oppose it, that figure is noticeably lower than support measured in other recent public opinion surveys. In a poll published earlier this year, the Public Religion Research Institute pegged support for same-sex marriage at 65%, down from a high of 69% in 2022.

The most recent Gallup poll asking Americans for their views on LGBT-related issues, released in June, 65% of respondents supported same-sex marriage, while 32% opposed it. This marked a decline from the record high of 71% support in 2022 and 2023. 

Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, addressed the decline reflected in the Gallup poll in an op-ed published by The Christian Post. "The promise of 'marriage equality' was that it was simply about allowing committed same-sex couples to formalize their relationships. Americans were assured that nothing else would change," he wrote. "But that is not what happened."

Perkins pointed to "pride parades in major cities where public nudity and sexually explicit displays are celebrated in full view of families and children," as well as "major corporations, universities, and professional sports organizations pressuring employees and athletes to affirm an ever-expanding list of sexual identities" and "a growing commercial surrogacy industry that intentionally deprives children of either their mother, their father, or both" as reasons he believes public support for same-sex marriage is falling.

He also cited the performance of gender transition procedures on trans-identified youth as well as the allowance of trans-identified males in women’s spaces and women’s sports as additional factors that have caused support for same-sex marriage to decline.

“Once marriage is detached from the complementary union of man and woman, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain why mothers and fathers matter, why men and women are different, or why children have a right to both,” he concluded. 

Recent polls from The Economist/YouGov have consistently shown lower support for same-sex marriage than other surveys, with support pegged as low as 51% and opposition measured as high as 34% in May 2026 and support measured as high as 55% in March, January and December 2025. 

 

Naked people painted with the rainbow flag in front of Gran Canaria Cathedral: Mazuelos considers it "marketing for the city" BASTARDS!

Crédito: EFE y Autor: Ángel Medina G.

by INFOVATICANA | July 27, 2026

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Nearly 500 people posed nude this Sunday in front of the cathedral of Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, painted with the colors of the rainbow flag, in an intervention organized by American photographer Spencer Tunick as part of the Culture & Business Pride festival. The image, conceived specifically to turn the main church of the diocese into the backdrop for an LGTBI movement claim, took place in Plaza de Santa Ana coinciding with the feast day of the city’s patron saint.

Far from expressing rejection of the use of the cathedral as the setting for this intervention, the bishop of the Canary Islands, José Mazuelos, stated that he was not against the initiative and even described it as “marketing for the city.”

The cathedral turned into the stage for an LGTBI claim

The intervention consisted of forming a giant human rainbow flag with several hundred volunteers completely nude and painted in different colors. Spencer Tunick directed the composition from the rooftop of the Casas Consistoriales and took various shots with the participants facing the cathedral’s façade.

It was not just any location. The organizers chose the square in front of the episcopal see and main church of the diocese for an image meant to symbolize, according to its promoters, “diversity, freedom, and the rights of LGTBIQA+ people.”

The session was also held on the feast day of Santa Ana, when the cathedral was hosting liturgical celebrations in honor of the city’s patron saint.

The faithful were unable to access Mass normally

The security measures organized for the photo session initially prevented access for cathedral staff and the faithful arriving for the first morning Mass.

The situation forced Bishop José Mazuelos to request the intervention of the National Police to create an access corridor to the church. Eventually, attendees were able to enter for the 10 a.m. Eucharistic celebration.

The newspaper adds that some participants in the intervention later entered the cathedral still covered in the paint used to form the rainbow flag.

Mazuelos: “anything that is marketing for the city is good”

Despite what happened, the bishop of the Canary Islands made it clear that his objection was not directed against the artistic intervention or the location chosen to carry it out, as he reported to Canarias7.

“Not only am I not against this artistic intervention, but I support it to the extent that I understand that anything that is marketing for the city is good,” he told journalists.

His only criticism focused on the lack of communication from the organizers, explaining that if the Diocese had been informed in advance, it would have better organized access to the cathedral, which has three entrances.

This position was made even more explicit in statements to El País, where he insisted that the presence of hundreds of nude people in front of the cathedral posed no problem for him. “I have no problem,” he stated, before adding: “When we go to the beach, we see nude bodies, don’t we?”

Mazuelos’s statements therefore represent an explicit acceptance that an intervention of this nature took place in front of the main church of the diocese, limiting his objections to the organizational issues that arose during the celebration.

A new provocation in front of a Catholic church

The choice of the cathedral as the backdrop for the composition did not go unnoticed. Spencer Tunick himself acknowledged that he had initially conceived the work using both perspectives of the square—the one facing the cathedral and the one directed toward the Casas Consistoriales—and stated that this type of action constitutes support for the LGTB movement.

The image released by the organization thus turns the façade of the Gran Canaria cathedral—with Mazuelos’s approval—into the visual frame for an ideological claim linked to the Culture & Business Pride festival.

 

REPOSTED...

 WOMAN WAS CURED OF 'HOPELESS' LIVER CANCER AFTER TRIP TO MEDJUGORJE

Journey of Hope

By Maureen FitzGerald

     This is written to give testimony to the love and mercy that God has for each of us, and to give all Glory to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to give honor and thanksgiving to Our Lady of Medjugorje for intercession to Jesus for my healing.
     In April 2022, I was surprisingly diagnosed with advanced cancer of the liver with too many tumors to count, and was offered no hope. They had no treatment, ruled out transplant surgery and I was given prognosis of only three months to live. It was then that my husband and I were inspired to call it our Journey of Hope since no hope was offered. We immediately called our Rosary group members and our family and friends to ask for prayers. It was Good Friday 2022.
     One cancer center out of four offered me experimental immunotherapy. After two treatments, my body overreacted and multiple hospitalizations in June and July put me near death. In July, the cancer metastasized to my spine. Doctors again offered no hope though I reminded them of the Divine Physician being in charge. They told my husband to put me in a nursing home with hospice.
     When I left the hospital in July, I went home. I could not walk other than on my heels using two canes. My nerves were damaged and I had massive edema, and was put into congestive heart failure and I was blind in my right eye. We were praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosaries daily. There were so many Rosary groups praying for me and my family, it had spread from USA to the Philippines, England, Ireland, and even underground China! It was overwhelming and so wonderful. It was like a giant blanket of prayers that covered us and strengthened us. One Rosary group sent me the Surrender Prayer Novena which I began to pray nonstop. It took me four times to pray the Novena before I surrendered my will to God's Divine Mercy.
     In late August 2022, my Journey of Hope continued while going to confession. The priest listened and suggested to me that I had spent plenty of time with doctors, and maybe I needed to spend more time with God. I asked him to repeat it three times.
     Two days later, my friend Julie Rasp asked us what was next. Doctors had no plans. She then asked us to go on her Medjugorje pilgrimage which was leaving in two weeks. It included Fr. Dan Powell, our pastor, who had been spiritually administering to us these past months with Communion, Confession and Anointing.
     We left September 12, 2022 on our Journey of Hope which took us to Medjugorje. My husband's prayer petition was for a miracle and mine was to Our Lady for peace in my heart concerning our daughters. I asked her to take care of their hearts if God's will be to take me.
     After a couple of days, I went alone to early evening Confession walking with my two canes, knowing that if I fell, a kind person from the village or pilgrim would help me get back up. The Irish priest I had for Confession listened and told me to find Father Leon and he would know what to do. I responded, "Who is Fr. Leon and how do I find him?" He told me not to worry and that I would find him. I informed Fr. Dan of my Confession and asked him about Fr. Leon. He was surprised I did not know him, but realized I was staying outside for Mass and would not have seen him. He concelebrated Mass the next day with Fr. Leon and would talk to Fr. Leon about me.

"Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him" (Jms 5:14)

     I met Fr. Leon after his talk outside the yellow hall. Fr. Dan introduced me and Fr. Leon (who was a physician before he became a priest) asked about my cancer. I told him, "An Irish priest sent me to you, and he also told me you would know what to do." Fr. Leon realized it was Fr. Mike who sent me. Fr. Leon asked if he could pray over me and I said, "Yes."
     As Fr. Leon prayed with his hands on my head, I immediately felt this intense heat from my head going down to my spine. I closed my eyes and knew the Lord was doing something and began thanking him for what was happening. Fr. Leon blessed me and we parted. Walking with my two canes I leaned against the yellow building waiting for my husband. With my mask on, I began to smell a beautiful fragrance of roses which overpowered to the point that I took my mask off. Breathing fresh air, I looked around and saw no plants or bushes, just concrete. I put my mask back on, and the intense beautiful fragrance of roses returned. I started crying and thanking Our Lady of Medjugorje for Her intercession to Her Son.
     The next morning, I felt very strong in my legs upon waking and the severe edema was completely gone. My husband helped me up in the room, and I could walk without my canes! We thanked God for this tremendous change, I could now walk and had peace in my heart.
     When we got home to America, I had an appointment with my family doctor. The doctor was shocked to see me with no leg edema and no canes. He asked me what happened. I reminded him I went on pilgrimage and believed God had healed me through the intercession of His Mother Mary. He then went to see my lab work which was just done when I had returned from my pilgrimage. His jaw dropped and he started telling me my tumor marker was 1.3 (less than 3 is normal).
     When I was diagnosed it was 8,000. He also told me the rest of my liver enzymes were perfectly normal. I was pleasantly stunned and amazed at God's mercy and love. He turned to me and said something happened to my body and I needed to get MRIs. He sent me to the Oncologist who ordered an MRI of my abdomen and spine. The resulting abdominal MRI showed all tumors gone except for one which was 3cm, but had been 8cm before. The resulting spinal MRI showed no tumors. We were overjoyed and amazed. The Oncologist had the cancer surgeon come to evaluate the 3cm tumor. The surgeon said he would order a surveillance scan in three months, as he could not understand the results of the recent scans and lab work.

Maureen and Michael on their pilgrimage of thanksgiving in 2023

      At the three-month MRI, the scans showed all tumors were gone!!! We were so happy, and amazed at the results which cannot be explained by medical science. But as we know, nothing is impossible with God. Jesus is our Hope, Our Lady is the Mother of Hope. All thanksgiving to His Divine Mercy and Our Lady's loving answer to all the prayers that went up for our family.
     My husband and I were praying and both of us felt that God's plan for us would be to promote the Divine Mercy devotion as well as give thanks to Our Lady of Medjugorje's intervention by sharing our Journey of Hope. The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Surrender Novena teach us to trust in Him and His plan for us all. We returned in September 2023 to Medjugorje as a Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Our Lord and Our Lady. We ask all who hear about our Journey of Hope to thank God and Our Lady, for we cannot thank Jesus and Our Lady enough for this healing. Along with the Rosary please pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for all those in need of Hope.
     Jesus I trust in you!!!
     Editor's note: Maureen is from Lancaster, PA. For the complete testimony as well as Fr. Leon's testimony go to www.marytv.tv, Fruit of Medjugorje #538. I would like to thank Thomas Fleming, who sent me the link to Maureen's testimony after he read a prayer request I wrote for a member of our mailing crew who has liver cancer. Please keep our friend Georgia in your prayers. It is because of Georgia's liver cancer that you are reading this beautiful story of hope.

Fr. Leon's Commentary on Maureen's Healing

     I'm Fr. Leon Pereira. I'm the chaplain here in Medjugorje for the English-speaking pilgrims. I met Maureen FitzGerald here a year ago, September 2022. I was giving a talk in the hall. When I came out, I was being mobbed by people, and suddenly they parted and Maureen came up with her husband, Michael. She was very emaciated. She didn't look great, she looked a bit yellow, she looked cachectic, and she didn't look like she was very long for this world. When you have cancer and you're riddled with it - she obviously had that look.
     She told me about...what the cancer was, and also said that two priests had told her to come and find me. So after a short conversation, I worked it out. She meant Fr. Michael Fitzgerald [same name as Maureen's husband, but no relation], who is a lovely priest from Cork who has been living here in Medjugorje for the past couple of years. And Fr. Dan Powell, her pastor, as well, directed her to me. So when she came up and she said she had been asked to find me, my first thought was, "I don't know why." So I prayed over her. I asked her if she wanted to be prayed over. I laid my hands on her and I prayed, and when I prayed, the first thing is, I started to imagine all the tumors, where she told me the tumors were, sort of evaporating from her body. But at the same time, I thought - I actually did think - "Oh no, what will happen if she's cured? Because that'll be the end of my life!" So I said explicitly to the Lord, "Please, through the intercession of Our Lady of Medjugorje, let Maureen be cured as a proof to them that Our Lady is truly appearing here in Medjugorje." I said that explicitly. So I prayed over her.

Fr. Leon

     Then a couple of days later, I was back towards the house where I live with the Franciscans, and Maureen just appeared with her husband and she looked better. She was walking a lot better and I said, "Shall I pray with you again?" And so I did. And I said the same thing again explicitly. "As a proof to them that Our Lady is truly appearing here in Medjugorje..." I've never seen Maureen before in my life before that visit last year. And after that, I didn't think I would hear from her. I do remember the look in her husband's eyes - Michael's eyes - I do remember feeling very moved, seeing what he was carrying, the burden he was carrying...
     A few months later, I got an email from Fr. Dan Powell, saying, "Do you remember this lady, Maureen?" And, of course, I did. He told me that she was well, she was cured, that her blood results were normal, and the tumors had shrunk or disappeared. And then shortly after, I had an e-mail from Maureen herself, with a lot more details. And I encouraged her to send all this medical data to the Bishop here, the Apostolic Visitator, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli. So she told me this morning that she did that yesterday. I think she had a meeting with the Bishop and handed over all the medical documentation to him and told him the story as well.
     It is wonderful, it is absolutely wonderful to see her well, on her feet! I have to admit when I saw [her] this year, I didn't actually recognize her. When she said, "Do you know who I am, Father?", I only knew because her pastor was standing nearby. But I didn't recognize her; the contrast was so complete, so different. It's all God's work. He's healed her, but through the intercession of Our Lady of Medjugorje, because that's explicitly what I asked for, that it should be a proof to them that Our Lady truly is here.
     And I think that Maureen also feels that motherly presence of Our Lady, motherly love and care over her and her family. So we praise God for this. It's a wonderful gift. Praise God!

 

Some time back a lady who knows me through our parish presented me with a copy of this book by Maeve Binchy R.I.P.. She said, "Gene, you are a writer and I expect you read a lot. I would like to make you a gift of this novel by Maeve Binchy." I thought to myself me an intellectual reading Maeve Binchy!

But I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Moral: just because you may be an intellectual never look down on anything. 

No wonder her books have sold millions. Give me Maeve Binchy rather than Iris Murdock any day.

 

Canting Detterling the aging Freemason and incorrigible pseud has been arrested and is being held in custody on Tyneside charged with involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy. Shocking to some but not to readers of this blog. Rumours of a possible Detterling connection in the Kennedy assassination have circulated for years. Herewith a feature previously published on this blog:

THE LEE HARVEY OSWALD - DETTERLING CONNECTION

Lee Harvey Oswald

For many years it has been rumoured that Lee Harvey Oswald visited Britain in the summer of 1963. I believe it it almost certain that he did.

My researches lead me to believe that he travelled to Heathrow in August 1963 and from there to Tyneside. It seems that he had a two-hour meeting in the Old George pub in Newcastle with an overweight young man whom I believe was the then nineteen year old Detterling.

The Old George in Newcastle

I have tracked down the barman who was serving in the Old George that day. Now an old man in his nineties - but alert and lucid - he talks of how after the President Kennedy assassination he recognised Lee Harvey Oswald as the man present in the pub that August day. He reported this to the authorities but was just laughed at. I showed him the famous photo of Detterling trainspotting in 1959 and asked if this could be Detterling four years later in 1963. He replied, "Yes, indeed it could. He was a lard-assed young lad. Lee Harvey Oswald drank scotch whiskey and this lad you tell me is Detterling drank Wincarnis - which I thought was odd for a young fellow. I never heard what they were discussing but when I was picking up the glasses from their table I heard Lee Harvey Oswald pronounce as crap the record that Detterlig had just played on the jukebox - Dirty Old Town by The Spinners"

Let us fast forward to 22nd November 1963. 

President Kennedy's motorcade Dallas 22nd November 1963

Last November Detterling posted on the Times Educational Supplement website that he was in Bristol on the day of the assassination. But was he?

On the afternoon of 22nd November 1963 a short film clip was shown on several American TV news channels. It showed an obese young man rushing up the grassy knoll, his fat ass wobbling in syncopated rhythm. Mysteriously the film clip was never seen again. Could the fat young man have been Detterling? Could Detterling have been the never-identified mystery man on the grassy knoll?

BACK FROM A WONDERFUL PILGRIMAGE...

IONA

Yes we are back. I am so glad that the five of us undertook this. We had been planning it for several years. Two of us Catholic and three C of E.

More about our pilgrimage later.

In the meantime I was so impressed about a talk one of our group, Eva Spottiswoode (C o E), gave to a gathering on Iona. I recorded it on my phone. Herewith an extract:

"In the Gospel Our Lord warns us about false prophets. There is a price to be paid for those who do not bear good fruit. We have had error since the beginnIng. Think of Aaron, Simon Magis. In our own time priests and bishops teach error to justify their own behavior.

The error of radical feminism has a big footprint in the Church today. What are its fruits? Broken families, childless women. This error is part of modernism, relativism, a problem for maybe 300 years, named by Pius X in Pascendi.

How do we protect ourselves from these false teachings? These unnatural acts – abortion, contraception, LGBTQ acts – can never be tolerated. But we live in such a secular age. Most of the churches in our cities are mostly empty. "

We prayed for all our families and friends  in Ruislip, Ickenham, Denham, Uxbridge and Iver. And of course we prayed for Detterling. I'm paraphrasing here but our prayer for Detterling went something like this:

Dear Lord and father of mankind we commend to you Detterling. Let him aways strive to emulate his friend that holy and saintly man Gene Vincent. Let him turn completely away from his support of evils such as abortion, homosexual acts and assisted dying. Let Delia be a great support to him in this ontological change to his inner being. Let Dear Old Deters never be cast into the Bottomless Pit.

AMEN

 Just a reminder...

ADVANCE NOTICE...

There will be no new posts published on Gene's blog from 22nd June until 15th of July 2026.

Gene will be on pilgrimage, firstly on Iona, and then on Lindisfarne.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

ps

Readers' comments can however still be posted during that time