No Major Religious Group Supports Religiously Based Service Refusals of Gays and Lesbians

WASHINGTON, June 21, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Pride Month is celebrated across the country, a massive new survey finds no major religious group expresses majority support for allowing small businesses to refuse service to gay or lesbian people on religious grounds. The survey also finds increasing evidence of an emerging consensus on LGBT rights, with majorities of young Republicans and young white evangelicals (age 18-29) now supporting same-sex marriage.

The landmark survey, released today, was conducted by the nonpartisan PRRI as part of its 2016 American Values Atlas (AVA). The survey, based on approximately 40,000 interviews spanning all 50 states, explores support for same-sex marriage and religiously based service refusals for gay and lesbian people, attitudes on immigration policy, and perceptions of discrimination against four minority groups.

"For the first time in a PRRI poll of this size, no major religious group reports majority support for religiously based service refusals of gay and lesbian Americans," says PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. "And most religious groups today support same-sex marriage. The religious groups in which majorities oppose same-sex marriage make up less than 20 percent of the public."

More than six in ten (61 percent) Americans oppose allowing small business owners in their state to refuse to provide products or services to gay or lesbian people, if doing so would violate their religious beliefs. Only half (50 percent) of white evangelical Protestants and fewer than half of Mormons (42 percent), Hispanic Protestants (34 percent), black Protestants (25 percent), and Jehovah's Witnesses (25 percent) believe small business owners should be allowed to refuse services to gay and lesbian people.

The survey report also gauges attitudes on same-sex marriage and perceptions of discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans. Most Americans say gay and lesbian (58 percent) and transgender people (62 percent) face a lot of discrimination. Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to perceive significant levels of discrimination against gay and lesbian people (38 percent vs. 75 percent, respectively) or transgender people (44 percent vs. 77 percent, respectively).

Results from the AVA are also available via an interactive online map, allowing users to explore religious, political, and demographic attributes, along with attitudes on key issues, for all 50 states, four U.S. Census regions, and 30 major metropolitan areas. Explore the AVA here: http://ava.prri.org/

The topline questionnaire, full methodology, and additional findings and analysis can be found here: https://www.prri.org/research/americans-views-discrimination-immigrants-blacks-lgbt-sex-marriage-immigration-reform/

PRRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization specializing in research at the intersection of religion, values, and public life.

SOURCE PRRI

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https://www.prri.org/