Pressure is growing on the country to legalise same-sex marriage, and this latest poll gives further credence to the idea.
The Prague Daily Monitor reports that a new poll has found that 75% of people in the Czech Republic favour the legalisation of same-sex marriages. Only 19% opposed their introduction. This marks a further climb in support for LGBTQ rights in the country, after a poll in 2016 found that 68% of people were in favour of legalising same-sex marriage.
Speaking to the Prague Daily Monitor, Czeslaw Walek, the head of the We Are Fair campaign said: “Czechs are certainly unopposed to the happiness of gay and lesbian couples. On the contrary, 75 percent of society believe that if the two love each other, they should have a chance of marrying.”
Currently, the Czech Republic offers registered partnerships to same-sex couples. Since the practice was introduced in 2006, 2,647 couples have entered into one. Marriage equality was mostly backed by women, and younger people with higher education. If the Czech Republic did introduce same-sex marriage, then it would be the first former Soviet Union country to do so.
Related: 76% of Northern Ireland back marriage equality in latest poll
There was less support for same-sex couples being able to adopt, however. Only 61% of people were in favour, whereas 31% were opposed to the idea.
Other disappointing statistics were thrown up as well, with nearly a third of people believing that homosexuality was a “fashionable affair” and that its acceptance would lead to “the decline in morality.” One in five thought that homosexuality was immoral, and a further 13% thought that equal marriage would threaten the marriages of heterosexuals. 8% of people went further, thinking that equal marriage would personally threaten them.
Despite some of these disappointing statistics, marriage equality could be on the way for the people of the Czech Republic. In the past, the country’s Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has voiced his support, and marriage equality campaigners say that just under half of the country’s MPs have pledged their support.
The poll was conducted during February and asked 1,216 people.
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