A new PRRI study shows that the majority of Americans support marriage equality, transgender bathroom access, and LGBT non-discrimination laws.
The study found that support for same-sex marriage has been “rapidly” increasing over the past few years, with 62% of Americans now supporting equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Democrats are far more likely to support marriage equality, with 73% in favor versus only 43% of Republicans. 49% of Republicans oppose marriage equality. 26% of Americans say that they are more supportive of same-sex marriage than they were five years ago, though 66% reported that “their views about the legality of same-sex marriage have not changed in the past five years.”
The study also found that religious opposition to same-sex marriage is decreasing for every group polled except for religiously unaffiliated. “Approximately eight in ten religiously unaffiliated Americans (80%) and adherents of non-Christian religions (79%) favor same-sex marriage.” Protestants and Catholics were found to be the only religious groups mostly opposing marriage equality, with only 45% of Catholics, 34% of white Protestants, and 44% of black Protestants supporting it.
“Interestingly, Catholics (39%) are more likely than members of every other major religious group to say they have become more supportive of same-sex marriage over the past five years. Roughly three in ten religiously unaffiliated Americans (30%) and non-Christian religious Americans (28%), roughly one in five white mainline Protestants (22%) and black Protestants (22%), and just 14% of white evangelical Protestants also say they have become more supportive of same-sex marriage. Also of note, black Protestants (11%) and white evangelical Protestants (10%) are the most likely to say they have become less supportive of same-sex marriage than they were five years ago.”
Anti-LGBT sentiments were also most prominent among Catholics and Protestants in regards to allowing small business owners to reject gay and lesbian people based on their religious beliefs. While 77% of non-Christian religious Americans and 74% of unaffiliated Americans oppose anti-LGBT “religious freedom” policies, 49% of white evangelical Protestants support rejecting gay and lesbian people based on religious beliefs. The percentage of Catholics who favor anti-LGBT “religious freedom” policies is the same as the overall percentage for Americans: 30%.
80% of Democrats oppose denying gay and lesbian people service based on religious beliefs, while a 52% majority of Republicans favor the homophobic policy.
Democrats are also far more likely than Republicans to believe that discrimination against minorities still exists in the United States today. Less than 50% of Republicans believe that immigrants, LGBT people, and black people face a lot of discrimination in society, versus over 75% of Democrats for all of those groups. Over 60% of Americans believe that those groups face a lot of discrimination.
A 62% majority of Republicans support LGBT non-discrimination laws for employment, public accommodations. 72% of Americans and 78% of Democrats also support LGBT non-discrimination laws. However, only 15% of Americans know that there is no federal law currently protecting LGBT people from discrimination in the workplace.
Republicans are evenly split on the question of transgender bathroom access, with 44% in favor and 44% opposing. 64% of Democrats and 53% of Americans overall support allowing transgender people to use that bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
The vast majority of Americans believe that Democrats are at least somewhat friendly to LGBT people, and that Republicans are hostile towards LGBT people. 73% of Americans, 82% of Democrats, and 77% of Republicans believe that Democrats are pro-LGBT. Only 33% of Americans believe that Republicans are LGBT-friendly, though 60% of Republicans believe that their party is LGBT-friendly.
Only 35% of Americans believe that the Catholic Church is LGBT-friendly, while 49% of Catholics believe that their church is LGBT-friendly. 50% of Americans believe that evangelical churches are at least somewhat unfriendly to LGBT people, while 53% white evangelical Protestants believe that their churches are at least somewhat friendly to LGBT people.
PRRI also found that fewer Americans are hearing about homosexuality from their clergy.
“Americans who report hearing about homosexuality—and attend services regularly—are much more likely to report their clergy teach that homosexuality is morally wrong (60%) as opposed to teaching that it is morally acceptable (13%).”
In 2011, only 5% of people who attended services regularly reported positive teachings on homosexuality.
The PRRI study also found that almost half of American voters support Hillary Clinton, though she is currently losing to Donald Trump with white Americans with no college degree.
