A new bipartisan study commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign and Americans for Marriage Equality found that 53 percent of Americans view gay people favorably, while only 42 percent of Americans view Evangelical Christians favorably. Gays do better on the other end of the spectrum as well, with just 18 percent of respondents viewing gays unfavorably compared to 28 percent for Evangelical Christians.
The survey of 1000 likely 2016 voters was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and TargetPoint Consulting. Among the survey's other main findings:
• There has been a huge shift toward social equality, with favorability ratings for “gay and lesbian” people increasing and the number of people who knows a gay or lesbian person reaching 75 percent. Even in football, the crucible of American culture, voters (79%-16%) judge a player by his ability, not his orientation.
• A 55 percent majority support marriage equality. While young people are at the vanguard of change, this survey also shows increased support among older voters, Catholics, non-college educated voters, and Republicans.
• Rather than uniform opposition, marriage equality now splits the political right, with younger conservatives disagreeing with older conservatives. 40 percent of conservatives age 18-29 support gay marriage, compared to only 21 percent aged 50+
• Regardless of position on the issue, nearly 8 in 10 voters believe there will be less discrimination, it will be easier to grow up gay, and same-sex families would have more protection if marriage equality were legal in all 50 states.
A presentation of the poll's findings is available at the GQR site HERE.
