HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – Racially motivated hate crimes rose more than 20 percent in nine U.S. metropolitan areas last year, according to Brian Levin, director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Yet in 2015, one in 10 marriages in the U.S. was interracial or inter-ethnic, up from 3 percent 1967, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia legalized interracial marriage nationwide.

Adult retailer Adam & Eve chose the topic of interracial relationships for its most recent poll of pleasure products consumers. Staff sexologist Dr. Kat Van Kirk called some of the resulting statistics “surprising.”

For example, 79 percent of respondents said they would be open to dating someone outside their race and 42 percent indicated they have had an interracial sexual experience, yet 64 percent admitted interracial relationships remain stigmatized.

According to a study by the Pew Research Center, white Americans are the least likely to marry outside their race or ethnicity, with only 9 percent of newlyweds in 2012 entering an interracial union. American Indians were by far the most likely to out-marry that year, with 58 percent of interracial unions containing an Amerind partner.

Van Kirk drew one primary conclusion.

“Who we are attracted to and what turns us on shouldn’t be limited by skin color,” she said. “Adam & Eve supports healthy sexuality between all consenting adults.”

For more about the company and the survey, visit AdamAndEve.com.