A survey by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released in October, just before Latino and gay voters were credited with key roles in Obama's re-election, found support for gay marriage rising quickly among Latinos, with 53 percent favoring allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. When the same survey was conducted in 2006, 56 percent of Latinos opposed same-sex unions.
Ultimately, though, decisions about whose needs are addressed and whose are left for another day lies with lawmakers and the White House, not the good intentions of advocacy groups, said Frank Gilliam, dean of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"If I were a Democratic Senate aide and this (issue) was a discussion in our staff meeting, I would tell our member that this is something you better be prepared to give up," Gilliam said. "We are talking politics. We are not talking about what the right thing to do is."
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