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In 2015, the US Supreme Court ordered all 50 states to take legal action to recognize the right to marriage to the LGBT community. EFE
In 2015, the US Supreme Court ordered all 50 states to take legal action to recognize the right to marriage to the LGBT community. EFE

Hispanic Support Grows for Same-Sex Marriage

Pew Research Center Survey confirms that more and more people are supporting marital union among members of the LGBT community.

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US society support for same-sex marriage reached its highest point in 20 years, and two years after the Supreme Court ordered all 50 states to recognize the right to legal union held by members of the LGBT community.

That's the Pew Research Center's conclusion following the publication of its latest survey a couple of weeks ago in which it found that 62 percent of Americans are in favor of equal marriage.

The poll, conducted between the 8th and 18th of last June, found that support rocketed even in traditionally conservative demographic groups. Hispanics are a good example of this: while in 2007 only 37 percent of our community was in favor of gay marriage, this year 60 percent say they agree that homosexuals can marry.

The African-American population has also relaxed its position: if in 2007 only 26 percent of the members of this community supported this right, today they represent the 51 percent. As for white Americans, the poll shows that support for gay marriage has doubled in the last decade, rising from 37 percent in 2007 to 64 percent this year.

But if looked at with an ethnic lens, the survey results show a substantial change of attitude of the Americans on this issue. When observing equal marriage with the lenses of faith, the trend is also promising.

While support for same-sex marriage continues to be a minority in some religious groups, the recognition of this right of the LGBT community has increased in every church in the nation.

Among white Catholics, support stood at 67 percent, while 68 percent of their Protestant peers also expressed support. Some 85 percent of those who declared themselves religious but not affiliated with a particular church said they agreed with the legal union of same-sex people.

In contrast, most white Protestant evangelicals still reject this possibility: 59 percent versus 35 percent who do, but that does not erase the significant advance in terms of democratic openness. In the last 10 years, support for gay marriage jumped from 14 percent to 35 percent within this population group.

The fact that African-American Protestants are divided on this issue (50 percent opposed and 44 percent support it) also shows an important tendency to flex the dogma: within a decade, support went from 24 percent to 44 percent.

The survey, conducted on a sample of 2,504 people, also applied a generational perspective to identify how gay marriage moves in different age groups. While the trend among younger Americans is that of supporting gay marriage, more adults continue to show reservations, though increasingly little.

74 percent of millenials (between 18 and 36 years) say they favor this type of union, while only 23 percent oppose. Generation X members (between 37 and 56 years of age) are also mostly pro-LGBT rights: 65 percent agree with gay marriage while 29 percent still differs.

Among the generation of baby boomers (aged 53-71) support has also increased: 56 percent are in favor, while 39 percent are opposed. As always, the eldest are those who show greater resistance to social changes. According to the study, those who belong to the so-called Silent generation are mostly opposed to same-sex marriages (49 percent versus 41 percent who said they agree).

So, although there is still a lot of scope for the rights of the LGBT community to be fully recognized at the social level, the trend is that the mentality of American society towards this community is evolving in positive terms.

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