Religious Americans Support Marriage Equality

A new poll finds that religious Americans, across denominational lines, support marriage equality.

BY Michael O'Loughlin
February 26 2014 12:03 AM ET

A new poll finds that most religious Americans across denominational lines agree that same-sex couples should have the right to marry, including those who attend religious services regularly, busting the myth that religious people remain opposed to marriage equality. Further, nearly a third of young adults who leave their childhood religion cite the hostility to LGBT equality as a prime motivation.

Nearly three-quarters of religiously unaffiliated Americans (73 percent) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry, as do majorities of Jewish Americans (83 percent), white mainline Protestants (62 percent), white Catholics (58 percent) and Hispanic Catholics (56 percent), according to a poll whose results were released Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C. However, 59% of black Protestants and 69% of white evangelicals oppose same-sex marriage.

“While many churches and people in the pews have been moving away from their opposition to LGBT rights over the last decade, this new research provides further evidence that negative teachings on this issue have hurt churches’ ability to attract and retain young people,” said PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones.

Age and having a close friend or family member who identifies as gay or lesbian has an especially large impact on attitudes toward same-sex marriage, with nearly 70% of millennials supporting marriage equality. Even groups known for opposition to same-sex marriage aren't immune to the age factor, with half of millennial Republicans supporting marriage equality.

http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2014/02/26/most-religious-americans-support-marriage-equality

http://publicreligion.org/research/2014/02/2014-lgbt-survey/