Opposition to Queer Equality Becoming Uncool

Many people will remember a time when smoking was not just socially acceptable, but almost a social requirement: I knew several people when I was young who described themselves as “social smokers” - those who would have a cigarette in company, “to be sociable”. Others did so to seem, or to see themselves, as sophisticated or glamorous. That has of course changed dramatically in many countries. Nowadays, the proportion of smokers is declining steadily, especially among high status social groups. Many smokers themselves now take their poison alone, outside of their homes, in recognition of the nuisance value to others. How times can change.

One of the fascinating snippets in a new opinion poll on same sex marriage and more general LGBT equality, is that opposition to queer equality may be going the same way. A narrow majority of Americans now believe that it is more acceptable to support same-sex marriage than to oppose it.

The graphic shows geographic variations in support by type of community, and by region. Only in rural areas, and in the South, is opposition to gay marriage the more socially acceptable position. What the PRRI graphic does not show, is the more dramatic differences by age. 64% of the Millenial generation say that support for marriage equality is the more socially acceptable position.

This variation is crucial: the main focus of this research, by the Public Religion Research Institute, was on responses of the millenials to questions of LGBT rights. The primary conclusion is summed up in the title of the published report, “Generations at Odds: The Millenial Generation and the Future of Lesbian and Gay Rights“. Younger people are leading the way - even among political conservatives and Evangelical religious groups. As the headline to Peter Montgomery’s report at Religion Dispatches puts it, there is a ”Historic Pro-Gay Equality Shift Led by Millennials—Evangelicals Included“.

It is now well-established that support for marriage equality, and LGBT equality more generally, has been increasing rapidly in recent years, and is probably accelerating. The demographic shift, with strongly supportive younger people reaching voting age and older opponents passing away, is one obvious explanation for this increasing support. Another is that individuals are changing their opinions. Nearly 30% of respondents said they had changed their views in just the past five years, (mostly to become more supportive). Groups which were more likely than others to say they had become more supportive of same-sex marriage, were Millenials (29%), Hispanics (25%) - and Catholics (23%).

The Religious Divide on Gay Marriage

Opponents of marriage equality like to present their opposition as required by religious belief. The report makes clear however, that there is a deep religious divide on the matter. There are many people of faith who support equality, and only among Evangelical Christians is opposition overwhelming. The disagreement is not between religious opponents and secular non-believers, but between shades of religious belief. (The religiously unaffiliated are overwhelmingly in support).

But even among these evangelicals, where opposition appears to be so entrenched, there is a huge age divide: the indications are that almost half of white evangelical Millenials, and also of Millenial Republicans, support marriage equality. (The sample sizes for these sub-groups are small, and so these results are not definitive - but other research has shown similar results).

The report confirms previous findings that, by small majorities, Catholics and Mainline Protestants do not see same - gender sexual activities as sinful.

Combining three independent measures of moral and theological attitudes to gay and lesbian people into a single statistical scale, the report finds that majorities of every major religious group, with the exception of black Protestants and white evangelical Protestants, have either somewhat or very positive moral and theological views of gay and lesbian people, including more than 6-in-10 Catholics and mainline Protestants, and roughly 7-in-10 non-Christian religiously affiliated – and 64% ot Millenials – but Black Protestants, white evangelicals, and seniors have strongly negative moral and theological views on the issue.

Queer in Church

There have been numerous research reports on public attitudes to gay marriage and LGBT legal equality, but this report is the first I have seen to examine some issues around equality in church. On these issues too, Millenials are leading the way. For instance, they are almost as strongly supportive of the ordination of gay or lesbian clergy, as they are of marriage equality.

The religious divide is also apparent on the subject of church blessing for same sex unions. Rather than investigating personal approval for these blessings, the research asked respondents if such blessings in their own place of worship would affect their continued attendance. Strong majorities of all the religious subgroups – including black Protestants – say that this would not affest their attendance. (This is a marked increase from the last time this question was asked, in 2003). Whte evangelicals are the only group that expressed opposition – 57% say they would look for another place of worship.

An important finding on the churches and sexual orientation, is a perception that the churches’ negative judgements about homosexuality are alienating young people of all orientations, turning them away from religious practice. This perception is marked among young people themselves, but is shared by other age groups except seniors over 65. Where the churches promote negative messages these are furthermore believed to contribute to higher rates of teen suicide among gay and lesbian youth. (The good news though, is that a slim majority, in all denominations, report that their own places of worship simply do not talk about it). Millenials, once again, are the group most likely to see a link between church rhetoric and teen suicide.

An encouraging result is that although most churches simply don’t discuss homosexuality, a sizeable proportion are now talking about welcoming gay and lesbian people in church.

 

Related Posts:

Millennials Promise Brighter Future for Gay Rights (Care2.com)