“Republican presidential hopefuls are struggling with how to position themselves on same-sex marriage, an issue that is bedeviling a party hoping to avoid social controversies as the 2016 election approaches,” the Washington Post reports.

“Rapidly changing public opinion has forced much of the field to recalibrate their pitches. Early front-runners have sought balance between the GOP base and the broader electorate — saying that they have no problem with gay people but oppose a national right to gay marriage and favor strong legal protections for business owners who do not want to serve same-sex ceremonies.”

“A week before a closely watched U.S. Supreme Court hearing on the issue, public support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, with 61 percent of Americans – more than six in 10 for the first time – saying gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry legally.”

“Identical or similar majorities favor gay marriage on two key issues before the court: Sixty-one percent oppose allowing individual states to prohibit same-sex marriages. And 62 percent support requiring states to recognize gay marriages performed legally in other states.”

Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reports Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced legislation to bar federal courts from hearing any cases related to the definition of marriage.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) “says the state’s ban on gay marriage should be upheld in part because it is not discriminatory in that both gay and straight people are barred from marrying people of the same gender,” the Louisville Courier Journal reports.

“In an argument labeled absurd by gay marriage advocates, Beshear’s lawyer says in a brief filed last week at the U.S. Supreme Court that ‘men and women, whether heterosexual or homosexual, cannot marry persons of the same sex’ under Kentucky law, making the law non-discriminatory.”

“The argument mirrors that offered by the state of Virginia nearly 50 years ago when it defended laws barring interracial marriage there and in 15 other states, including Kentucky, by saying they weren’t discriminatory because whites were barred from marrying blacks just as blacks were barred from marrying whites.”

“After three decades of debate over its stance on homosexuality, members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted on Tuesday to change the definition of marriage in the church’s constitution to include same-sex marriage,” the New York Times reports.

The vote amends the church’s constitution to broaden marriage from being between “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.”

A new analysis shows that, for the first time, a majority of Americans — 56% — support same-sex marriage. Overall, support is up 8 points since 2012 and 45 points since 1988.

“Support for same-sex marriage among Republicans increased from 31% in 2012 to 45% in 2014. This increase is larger than the increase among Democrats and independents, although Republican support still lags behind those groups.”

“The Supreme Court has set April 28 as the date for historic arguments on gay marriage,” NBC News reports.

“The justices agreed in January to definitively answer whether the Constitution allows states to ban same-sex marriage. A ruling is expected by the end of the term in late June. The court granted cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. It will decide whether states can refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and whether they can refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere.”

“The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday night ordered probate judges around the state to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, ruling in direct opposition to a federal judge that the state’s ban on same sex marriage did not violate the United States Constitution,” the New York Times reports.

Rick Hasen says “it may take a direct order from the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to all of this. We know how this ends — with same sex marriages in Alabama. But it will be a struggle to the end.”

The latest NBC News/Marist polls show that about half of likely GOP caucus and primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina said they find opposition to gay marriage either “mostly” or “totally” unacceptable in a candidate.

“Voters in all three states find a candidate who supports gay marriage to be about as amenable as one who doesn’t toe the party line on any of these issues.”

Wonk Wire: Opposition to gay marriage hurts Republican candidates

Jeremy Todd Addaway has the latest from Blount County, Alabama now that same-sex marriage in legal.