Half of Italians back gay marriage, study on Twitter reveals.

Support for same-sex unions is stronger in the south of the country, tweets reveal. Only 20% back gay people's right to adoption.

Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Half of Italians on Twitter support same-sex marriage, but only 20% is in favor of adoptions by LGBT people.

That is the result of a study conducted by researchers who analyzed Italian tweets in the third week of September.

A total of 11,000 tweets on the subject were posted in that period. And 49.7% of Italians who commented tweeted in support of gay marriage. Just 37.9% of them said that they don’t want the legal recognition of same-sex unions.

Support is stronger in the south of the country. In Rome, 55.5% of the users who commented on Milan’s mayor’s statements on gay marriage were in favor.

Last month, Milan Mayor Giuliano Pisapia introduced same-sex civil unions in the city, although they carry no legal rights and responsibilities in Italy.

But in Milan itself, in the north of the country, support is slightly weaker: 47.6% of ‘Milanesi’ back same-sex unions. 

According to the researchers, Italians still don’t want gay couples to have the right to adopt children. In total, 80% of the tweets to address the question of gay adoption were against it.

Last month, Pisapia also stated that LGBT individuals and couples should have the right to adopt. 

The results of the study are very similar to those of a study by ISTAT, last May. The Istituto Nazionale di Statistica conducted a poll on homophobia and LGBT rights.

In May, half of Italians expressed their support for LGBT people who want the right to marry in a civil ceremony.

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com