Study: 63% Of U.S. Adults Support Same-Sex Marriages

Pew Research report highlights the impact of religion on the views of same-sex marriage around the globe.

Over the past decade, there has been increased public support for the legalization of same-sex marriage. But a new Pew Research study reveals just how different the world viewed the practice in the last two years.

The study analyzed several surveys in 32 places around the globe. In the United States, where Black people represented 8.8% of same-sex couple households in 2021, 63% of adults are in favor, and 34% oppose it. In that same year, about 69.7% of same-sex couple householders were white. The Supreme Court legalized the practice nationally in 2015.

In 2019, 51% of blacks supported same-sex marriages, a previous study found.

Views on same-sex marriage vary by religion, political ideology, age, education, and income, Pew Research supports. For example, 82% of Democrats and independents support same-sex marriage rights, compared to 44% of Republicans.

Additionally, in 21 of the places surveyed, adults under the age of 35 are “more likely than their older counterparts to say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally.”

“Religiously unaffiliated Americans (85%) – especially atheists (96%) – are the most likely to favor same-sex marriage legality.”

GLOBAL ATTITUDES

The latest research revealed that the “support for legal same-sex marriage is highest in Sweden, where 92% of adults favor it, and lowest in Nigeria, where only 2% back it.”

SWEDEN

According to the Swedish Institute, the gender-neutral marriage law was enacted in 2009. In the past 20 years, male-male marriages in Sweden have increased only modestly, while female-female marriages have soared to new heights. The Pew Research study found that only 20% of adults consider religion important to them. However, racial demographics were not included.

Somalians make up the largest group of foreign-born citizens from Africa living in Sweden in 2022, with nearly 70,000 people, Statista reported. Overall, the Black Swedish population is less than 1%.

AFRICA

In South Africa, the only place in Africa where same-sex marriage is legal, 59% of South Africans do not back the practice. Today, 84.2% of South Africans identify as Christian.

In Nigeria, where homosexuality is illegal, only 2% of adults claim they support same-sex marriage. Christians and Muslims in Nigeria are equally likely to oppose same-sex marriage, while 99% of adults say religion is at least “somewhat important” in their lives. Like Nigerians, most Kenyans oppose the practice, with only 9% in favor of it.

Pew Research’s report illustrates that the pattern of religion on the views of same-sex marriage around the globe is a consensus of its own.

“Support for legal same-sex marriage tends to be lower in places where more people say religion is somewhat or very important in their lives. Support is higher in places where fewer people consider religion important,” the research stated.