New Survey Finds Shifts in Americans’ Views on Religiously Based Service Refusals for Same-Sex Wedding Celebrations

A new study released by PRRI finds the public divided over whether business owners should be allowed to refuse to provide wedding-related services to same-sex couples if it violates their religious beliefs. Forty-six percent of Americans say they should be allowed to refuse services, and 48 percent say they should be required to provide them. Only one year ago, 41 percent said business owners should be allowed to refuse wedding-related services to gay and lesbian couples and 53 percent said they should be required to provide them.

Black Americans have shifted the most in their views on this issue. Nearly half (45 percent) of black Americans say businesses should be allowed to refuse wedding-related services to gay and lesbian couples on religious grounds. That is a nine-point increase from August 2017, when just 36 percent agreed.

“While support for same-sex marriage and broad rights for LGBT people continue to increase, opinions are less settled in specific areas such as religiously based service refusals, especially in the context of wedding service providers,” said Robert P. Jones, PRRI CEO. “Given the court’s narrow decision in the case involving the Colorado baker, the Supreme Court will likely have another say on this and other related issues, and Judge Kavanaugh, if confirmed, could end up being the deciding vote.”

Support for Same-Sex Marriage and the Supreme Court’s Obergefell Decision
Nearly two in three Americans (64 percent) now support same-sex marriage, and only 28 percent of Americans oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Same-sex marriage garners strong support among Democrats (80 percent) and independents (67 percent), but 44 percent of Republicans also favor the policy.

“The debate over same-sex marriage in the U.S. is quickly coming to an end,” said Dan Cox, PRRI Research Director. “The breadth of support for same-sex marriage is striking. Support has reached a tipping point among older Americans, and among young people it has become the consensus view.”

Other Notable Findings

• Americans are more likely to believe the Trump Administration’s actions are hurting rather than helping LGBT people, women, and immigrants.
• About seven in ten Americans favor broad nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people.
• A majority of Americans see Trump unfavorably.  
• Seven in ten Americans favor broad nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people. A large majority (71 percent) of Americans support laws protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination in employment, housing, or public accommodations—and just 22 percent of the public opposes these laws. A nearly identical percentage of Americans supported such protections in 2015, and just 25 percent were opposed.
• Perceptions of Trump administration policies hurting women: Women are more than three times as likely to say Trump’s policies have hurt them (45 percent) rather than helped (14 percent). Among men, 30 percent say Trump’s policies have hurt women compared to 23 percent who say they have helped. More than one-third of men and women (36 and 32 percent, respectively) do not perceive any impact at all.
• Trump administration policies seen to harm immigrants. Six in ten (60 percent) Americans say Trump’s policies are having a negative impact on immigrants, while 16 percent say they have been beneficial to immigrants.
• A majority of Americans continue to see Trump unfavorably: Fifty-three percent of Americans express an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while roughly four in ten (41 percent) Americans view the president positively. Public views of Trump have remained quite stable since his inauguration when 52 percent of Americans said they had an unfavorable view of Trump, and 43 percent said they viewed him positively. White evangelical Protestants remain among Trump’s most fervent supports; 73 percent hold a favorable view of him.
• Democrats dislike Trump far more intensely than Republicans like him: Partisans remain widely split over perceptions of President Trump, though Democrats report stronger feelings. Nearly nine in ten (89 percent) of Democrats have an unfavorable view of Trump, including an extraordinarily high 70 percent who view Trump very unfavorably. While a similar number of Republicans (86 percent) view Trump favorably, far fewer (42 percent) have a very favorable opinion of him.
• Methodology:The survey was designed and conducted by PRRI. The survey was made possible by generous grants from the Arcus Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Results of the survey were based on bilingual (Spanish and English) RDD telephone interviews conducted between June 27, 2018, and July 8, 2018, by professional interviewers under the direction of SSRS. Interviews were conducted among a random sample of 2,008 adults 18 years of age or older living in the United States (1,203 respondents were interviewed on a cell phone). The margin of error for the survey is +/- 2.6 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. The design effect for the survey is 1.4.  More information, including methodology, can be found here.