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Religion and politics create the sharpest divides over LGBTQ+ Americans, poll shows

Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Religious News

As to her relatives who are LGBTQ+ and the wider society, "It's all around me," she said. "I'm not going to love them any different because of who they are, but it's not for me."

The new poll, paid for by the California Endowment, highlights the huge changes in public attitudes since a similar survey conducted by the Los Angeles Times in 1985.

The survey also spotlights the resistance to accepting queer people among roughly one-third of the country, a group that is heavily Republican and significantly more likely than the rest of the adult population to identify as Protestant or Catholic.

One question is illustrative. In 1985, nearly 2 in 3 people said they would be very upset if their child was gay or lesbian. Today just 14% say that.

Half of adults today said that, if their child came out as gay or lesbian, it would not be an issue. But among people who identify as Protestant or other Christian, nearly half say they would be upset, with about 1 in 5 saying they would be very upset.

Asked whether sex between two adults of the same sex is wrong, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say yes. Protestants and Catholics are also more likely than those who are nonreligious to say that same-sex sexual relations are wrong.

 

That's a view shared by Timothy Mayo of Clay Center, Kan.: Sex between two adults of the same sex is "morally wrong," said Mayo, a registered Republican who said his views are rooted in his Christian faith.

"Even though they think they are gay and lesbian or whatever, Christ will still love them and still forgive them, and it's not my place to condemn them — but it doesn't make it right," said Mayo, who is a deacon at his Baptist congregation in his town of 4,000 people just south of the Nebraska border.

More than a quarter of Protestants said they would be less likely to vote for a gay or lesbian candidate for public office, compared with 8% of atheists and nonreligious people. If candidates were transgender or nonbinary, respondents across religious groups — 43% of Protestants, 35% of Catholics and 30% of other religious groups — said they would be less likely to vote for them.

Nearly half of Protestants and Catholics said same-sex relationships were all right for others but not for themselves.

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