Gay Marriage Poll 2013: WSJ/NBC/Telemundo Poll Shows More Hispanics Support Same-Sex Marriage Than Oppose

More Hispanics support same-sex marriage than oppose it, according to a new poll by the Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Telemundo.

Nearly half -- 49 percent -- of Latinos surveyed said they support same-sex marriage, while 43 percent said they did not, the largest margin between the camps this particular poll has ever measured.

Nationwide, 53 percent of all Americans support same-sex marriage, so Latino support is slightly less than average, but it is growing, and opposition is decreasing. Just a few months ago, in Dec. 2012, 47 percent of Hispanics opposed same-sex marriage, and 46 percent favored it.

Part of the shift is likely due to the increased visibility of the gay rights movement and the push for marriage equality nationwide. A year ago, only 46 percent of Hispanics said they knew someone who was gay or lesbian. But that number has now jumped to 58 percent.

It's highly unlikely that there's been a 12 percent jump in the number of gays and lesbians in the country in the last year, so the huge increase is likely due to friends and family members of Hispanics becoming more vocal about their sexual orientation.

There's a snowball effect in play. As support for same-sex marriage (and, by extension, tolerance for gays and lesbians) increases, closeted friends and family are more likely to come out to those close to them, which then increases the likelihood that those people will support same-sex marriage, or at least will be less likely to discriminate or oppress gays and lesbians in general.

For now, support for same-sex marriage is lower among Hispanics than the general population, but that's consistent with other social issues like abortion care, gender equality.

However, gay rights and same-sex marriage have shown themselves to be issues that are making consistent headway among Americans of all demographics, unlike abortion.

As with the rest of the country, it is likely that support for same-sex marriage among Latinos will continue to increase, especially as legalized and federally recognized same-sex marriages become more commonplace.