World News
Half of Hispanics favor legalizing same-sex marriage, study finds
Published: October 18, 2012
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than 50 percent of Hispanics now favor legalizing same-sex marriage, marking nearly a statistical flip-flop in the six years since the Pew Hispanic Center first began asking that question. However, majorities of those who attend religious services most regularly continue to oppose such marriages. In a report released Oct. 18, Pew's Hispanic Center and its Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 52 percent of Hispanics support same-sex marriage and 34 percent oppose it. Among them, 54 percent of Hispanic Catholics say it should be legal and 31 percent oppose it. Among all Americans, 48 percent favor same-sex marriage, as do 53 percent of all Catholics. In 2006, when the organization first asked Hispanics that question, 31 percent favored legalizing same-sex marriage and 56 percent opposed it. A large majority of evangelical Hispanics remain opposed to same-sex marriage, with 25 percent saying they support it and 66 percent opposed. Among white evangelicals, 19 percent support legalizing such marriages and 76 percent are opposed. In the religion breakouts done by Pew, white evangelicals are the group most likely to oppose same-sex marriage. Support for same-sex marriage was weaker among Latinos who regularly attend religious services, the report said. Among all Hispanics, 40 percent of those who attend services at least weekly support such marriages, and 47 percent oppose them. Forty-six percent of Latino Catholics who go to church at least weekly said they support same-sex marriage, while 37 percent oppose it. The Catholic Church opposes legalizing same-sex marriage, saying that marriage should remain a union between one man and one woman.
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