Idea of the Day: Latinos Support Gay and Lesbian Equality

October 22, 2012

PRINT:
• 
SHARE:
• 
• 
• 
• 

The Pew Hispanic Center recently released yet another poll confirming that a majority of Latinos support marriage equality for same-sex couples.

According to the poll, 52 percent of Latinos favor affording same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage, with 34 percent opposed. Six years ago Latino attitudes on the issue were virtually flipped. In 2006 only 31 percent of Latinos supported marriage equality, with 56 percent opposed to it.

Three other polls confirm majority Latino support for marriage equality. A spring 2011 poll commissioned by the National Council of La Raza found that 54 percent of Latinos support marriage equality for same-sex couples. A May 2012 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll similarly found that 55 percent of Latinos support marriage equality. And even more recently, a September 2012 NBC Latino/IBOPE Zogby poll found even stronger support among Latinos, with fully 60 percent of Latinos supporting equal marital rights for gays and lesbians.

Poll after poll confirms that a majority of Latinos in the United States favors fairness over discrimination with respect to marriage. But Latino support for equality goes far beyond support for marriage. By near-universal margins, Latinos support laws and policies that level the playing field for gay Americans in all areas of life.

For more on this topic, please see:

• Latino Support for Equality Goes Far Beyond Marriage by Crosby Burns