Vast Majority Of Jamaicans Remain Adamantly Opposed Same Sex Marriage....The study done by LAPOP found that 89 per cent of Jamaicans disapproved of same-sex marriage, with only 2.2 per cent strongly approving.

Published:Thursday | June 11, 2015 Jamaica Gleaner

An international study has found that the vast majority of Jamaicans remain adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage, even as the acceptance of such a union has been increasing in neighbouring regional states and the Americas.

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The study done by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) found that 89 per cent of Jamaicans disapproved of same-sex marriage, with only 2.2 per cent strongly approving.

This is nearly 20 per cent more than the 70 per cent found by pollster Bill Johnson in a Gleaner-commissioned poll in 2008.

Titled Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica and in the Americas, 2014, the study also found that in 2014, only 16 per cent of Jamaicans displayed approval for homosexuals' right to run for office in Jamaica. This reflects a decline from the 20.8 per cent approval in 2012.

The surveys, which were carried out in face-to-face interviews in 2012, using national representatives stratified and clustered-probability samples in both urban and rural areas, also found Jamaicans are more likely to support the political rights of advocacy groups and organisations described as 'regime critics' than homosexuals.

26 COUNTRIES

Described as The AmericanBarometer 2014, the study included 26 countries in the Americas and more than 41,000 interviews, which allows for comparison of the results of each individual country with others of the region.

Some 41.6 per cent expressed preference for the political rights of regime critics, while 16 per cent endorsed the political rights of homosexuals.

The question of whether homosexuals should be allowed to seek public office has been a subject of public debate in Jamaica for some time. It is a question that was raised during an interview with a journalist on the BBC's 'HARDtalk' programme, in 2008, that prompted former Prime Minister Bruce Golding to declare: "Not in my Cabinet!" more