Support for Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America

GERMAN LODOLA; MARGARITA CORRAL

Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America: Promise and Resistance

Lexington Books

Lugar: Maryland; Año: 2013; p. 41 - 52

This paper examines citizens' opinions with respect to same-sex marriage. It analyses levels of support for same-sex couples having the right to marry, and assesses both individual- and national-level determinants of variation in that level of support. We find empirical evidence supporting our expectations. First, even when controlling for socio-economic and demographic factors and the impact of country of residence (the "country fixed effects"), both the importance of religion and attendance at religious meetings variables have a statistically significant negative impact on support for same-sex marriage. Second, we find that Evangelicals are significantly less likely to support for same-sex marriage, while those who say that they are Atheists or agnostic about religion are more likely to support gay marriage. Third, all the socio-economic and demographic variables included in the model are statistically significant in the theorized directions: size of the geographic area of residence is positively linked to our dependent variable, citizens with more years of completed education express higher support than individuals with less formal education, both wealthier and younger persons express more tolerance toward homosexual marriages than poorer and older people, and women express higher levels of support than men. In addition, the statistical results of the multi-level models show that citizens who live in richer and more educated countries express significantly higher levels of support compared to those who live in poorer and less educated nations.