EXCLUSIVE POLL: MAJORITY OF LATINO IMMIGRANTS OPPOSED TO GAY MARRIAGE, GREEN CARDS FOR GAY COUPLES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTH MOUNTAIN MEDIA INC.
CONTACT: Eddie Cano, VP of Operations
ecano@thegayreport.net

PHOENIX, AZ -- A large majority of immigrant Latinos say they are opposed to the idea of legalizing same-sex marriage, adoptions by same-sex couples, and are also opposed to the proposed plans by Senator Patrick Leahy to add bi-national couples to the current immigration reform bill being considered by Congress according to a survey asking random 2,700 immigrant Latinos who are either undocumented, awaiting for legalization or permanent residency in the hope of eventual citizenship.

The survey was conducted via respondents' cell phone between May 20-23 all of who attested to the following :

• Are ages between 18-75
• Are immigrants who are NOT U.S. citizens or permanent residents (the exact number of undocumented immigrants was not determined), AND are or will be seeking U.S citizenship or permanent residency.
• Are from the following countries: Mexico (1,917), El Salvador (174), Nicaragua (156), Venezuela (111), Peru (83), Guatemala (52), Colombia (49), Ecuador (44), Paraguay (41), Honduras (29).
• 1,566 of them were males and 1,134 were females.
• Are aware of the pending immigration reform bill and are in support of such reform.

Respondents resided in the following metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Dallas TX, Las Vegas NV; Anaheim, CA; Gresham OR; Santa Ana, CA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Merced, CA; El Paso, TX; Corona, CA; San Bernardino, CA; Long Beach, CA; San Jose, CA; San Francisco, CA; Sacramento, CA; Tucson, AZ.

Margin of error is plus or minus 3.2%.

FINDINGS

The following questions were asked in Spanish and are being translated here into English for the reader's convenience.

Respondents were asked about whether or not they approve of the legalization of same-sex marriage:

"Would you approve the state you are living in to legalize marriage for same-sex couples?"

61% of respondents said NO, 34% said YES, and 5% could not or refused to answer.

Next, respondents were asked about including same-sex bi-national couples in immigration reform:

"Do you support including same-sex partners in the current immigration reform bill?"

55% of respondents said NO, 41% said YES, and 4% could not or refused to answer.

Next, respondents were asked how they would vote on same-sex marriage if allowed to do so today:

"If you were made a U.S. citizen today and were to vote on whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage in your state, would you or would you not vote to legalize it?"

66% of respondents said they would NOT vote to legalize it, while 31% said they WOULD, and 3% could not or refused to answer.

Lastly, respondents were asked about same-sex couples adopting children:

"Do you support same-sex couples adopting children?"

70% of respondents said NO, 22% of respondents said YES, and 8% could not or refused to answer.

OTHER FACTS

52% of respondents stated they know of gay, bisexual, or lesbian relative/family members, friends, or co-workers.

58% of respondents considered themselves Roman Catholics, 37% protestant or Christians Evangelicals, 5% said they did not identify with any religion or were atheists. Over 2/3 of respondents said that they attend church regularly.

The age group most opposed to LGBT rights stated above were between 30-45, the least being 18-29.

3/5 of male respondents were the most opposed to LGBT rights stated above while females were mostly in favor.

Christian evangelicals and protestants were overwhelmingly opposed to LGBT rights stated above, while Catholics were evenly divided and the non-affiliated group was mostly supportive.

The majority of respondents had a median income of $28,250.75, with either a high school level education or less. Only 34% of respondents received some form of college education or training or above. College educated respondents were overwhelmingly in support of LGBT rights stated above than those who were not.

Those who spoke both English and Spanish tended to be in favor of gay rights, those who spoke only Spanish tended not to be supportive.

Those whose only source of news and information was Television Networks (mainly Univision and Galavision) were most opposed to gay rights while those whose source of news and information came from more diverse media platforms (Internet, social media, news paper, radio, and cable news).