Same-sex marriage is already legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia. And according to a new Pew Research Study on same-sex marriage approval, Black Protestants are one of the religious groups with growing support.

The study, which included 3,338 people nationwide, including 235 who self-identified as Black Protestants, showed a significant increase in support — jumping from 32 percent in 2013 to 43 percent of those in favor of same-sex marriage. 

"Black Protestants in our data are simply those people who self-identify as Protestant and as non-Hispanic Blacks by race and ethnicity," Gregory Smith, director of U.S. religion surveys for Pew, said.

The findings also revealed that those who did not attend religious services on a weekly basis were more accepting (65 percent), compared with 34 percent approval of frequent church goers.

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(Photo: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith)