A majority of Uruguayans say they
support gay marriage as lawmakers debate the issue.
According to Montevideo, Uruguay-based
El
Pais, 53 percent of respondents to a recent poll approve of
the legalization of marriage equality, while 32 percent remain
opposed. Fifteen percent refused to answer.
The survey results come a week after
Uruguay's lower house, La Camara de Diputados, approved a gay
marriage bill. Eighty-one of the eighty-seven lawmakers present
voted in favor of the measure.
The proposed reform, which seeks to
modify some 20 articles of the Civil Code, now goes to the Senate,
where it has sufficient support to pass. President Jose Mujican has
said he'll sign the bill into law.
“People who are more socially and
culturally liberal are the most supportive,” political scientist
Luis Eduardo Gonzalez said on national television.
A large majority people under the age
of 45 support marriage equality. Sixty-eight percent for those under
the age of 30, and 67 percent for those between 30 and 45.
People with a college degree are more
supportive than those without.
If the marriage law is approved,
Uruguay, which currently recognizes gay couples with civil unions,
would become only the second South American country after Argentina
to legalize marriage equality.
(Related: Mexican
state Oaxaca to legalize gay marriage.)