Legislators' Religiosity and Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America

Same-sex marriage has risen to the top of political agendas across Latin America, but it is still illegal in many countries. Public support about the issue varies greatly, and the roles of the courts, presidents, and legislatures have also differed. This article focuses on legislators because they are charged with representing the public and converting demands into policy. Although many legislatures have now voted on the issue, the literature has not intensively examined the policy makers' attitudes toward same-sex marriage. This study applies a theoretical framework that extends theories considering context and social contact and uses a survey of the region's legislators to study the correlates of support for same-sex marriage. Although the study also tests for individual-level variables (e.g., gender and ideology), the models focus on the contextual role of religiosity. The results show that having more secular colleagues encourages even pious legislators to support same-sex marriage. ResumenEl matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo (MPMS) ha marcado la agenda politica en muchos paises de America Latina, aunque aun es ilegal en muchos paises del continente. El apoyo publico varia mucho en la region, asi como tambien los roles de los tribunales, presidentes y legislaturas. En este articulo nos enfocamos en los legisladores, ya que son los encargados de representar al publico y convertir sus demandas en politica publica. Si bien muchas legislaturas han discutido el tema, la literatura no ha examinado de manera intensiva las actitudes de estos representantes hacia el MPMS. Para analizar este fenomeno aplicamos un marco teorico que amplia las teorias basadas en el contexto y contacto social, y utilizamos una encuesta implementada a legisladores en la region para estudiar las variables que correlacionan con el apoyo al MPMS. Si bien tambien evaluamos variables a nivel individual (tales como genero e ideologia), nuestros modelos se enfocan en el rol contextual de la religiosidad. Los resultados muestran que tener mas colegas seculares alienta a los legisladores, incluso a los creyentes, a apoyar el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo.