Same-Sex Marriage: 60% Of Latinos Now Support Marriage Equality

60% of Latinos support same-sex marriage, a huge number given that Latinos are often considered to be more religious than the “average American.” The new study, just released jointly by NBC Latino/IBOPE and Zogby, also notes that only 38% do not support the right of same-sex couples to marry, although 31% felt “strongly” about not supporting gay marriage.

READ: Majority Of Catholics Support Same-Sex Marriage, Same-Sex Sex Not A Sin

“The statistics don’t mean there is complete acceptance of gays by Latinos, however,” NBC Latino reports:

When it came to the biggest disappointment a parent would feel regarding their children, 43 percent said it would be if their child became a drug addict. Going to prison was the biggest disappointment for 33 percent of those surveyed. But 10 percent said having a gay child would be their biggest issue, while only 5 percent said a teen pregnancy would be their greatest disappointment.

 

“Support for the freedom to marry in Latino communities has now reached a supermajority as more Latinos learn that marriage matters to their gay family members for similar reasons as it matters to them: to make a lifetime commitment to each other, to share in the respect and dignity that comes with being married, and to protect their families,” Freedom to Marry‘s Director of Public Engagement, Thalia Zepatos, noted via a press release:

Latinos care about marriage because they care about family, and no member of anyone’s family should ever face discrimination. As more Latinos talk with their gay and lesbian family members, they realize that no one should be denied the freedom to marry the person that they love.”

In July, Freedom to Marry spearheaded the launch of Familia es Familia, a public education campaign designed to spur conversations about LGBT family acceptance among Hispanic communities across the country. Dozens of the nation’s leading Hispanic organizations have joined as partners of the campaign, including the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

A March 2012 poll by NBC/Wall Street Journal showed that 55% of Hispanics favor the freedom to marry (an increase of 10% since the last poll was conducted in October 2009). A March 2011 study by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that 67% of Latino Catholics support legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples.  An April 2012 study by the National Council of La Raza and Social Science Research Solutions found that 54% of Hispanics support marriage, and that Hispanics hold the same, if not more positive views of gay and lesbian people than the general population.

 

 

 

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