Gay People More Popular Than Evangelicals Says Poll From LGBT Activist Group

By Morgan Lee, Christian Post Reporter Sunday, March 30, 2014

The findings of a poll commissioned by an LGBT activist group suggest that Americans view Evangelicals less favorably than gay and lesbians.

The results of a Human Rights Commission poll, released this week, show that 28 percent of Americans see Evangelicals unfavorably, compared with the 18 percent who feel similarly about the LGBT community.

Protestors opposed to same-sex marriage carry signs outside the Federal Court House in Michigan where plaintiffs April Deboer and her same-sex partner Jayne Rowse managed to overturn Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage in Detroit, Michigan in a ruling on Friday March 21, 2014. A temporary stay was granted on Saturday. | (Photo: Reuters/Rebecca Cook)

Just over 50 percent of those surveyed hold positive views of gay and lesbians, while 42 percent of Americans see Evangelicals favorably.

The poll results also suggested a correlation between same-sex marriage support and church attendance.

Pollsters found that the majority of those who attended church infrequently — monthly or yearly — supported same-sex marriage at 64 percent and 68 percent respectively, whereas 63 percent of weekly church attenders opposed same-sex marriage.

The poll also asked respondents to agree or disagree with the statement: "While some people object to gay marriage, it is not for me to judge." Church attendance once again appeared to be a leading factor as 68 percent of monthly worshipers and 72 percent of yearly worshipers agreed with the statement, while the number dropped to 42 percent when asked of weekly worshipers.

Just over half of respondents agreed that "allowing gay marriage helps children by giving the couples of same-sex marriage the same legal rights and sense of family as other families in their community. Forty-one percent stated that they believe it "hurts children" and "boys need fathers and girls need mothers."

Nearly 60 percent believed that "children raised in same-sex couples do as well in terms of education, emotional stability and long term outcomes as children raised by a mother and a father," while 27 percent said that it negatively affected children.

Of those who opposed gay marriage, 42 percent said they believed it was "inevitable" that the Supreme Court would one day recognize it; 51 percent disagreed.

Conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, the poll surveyed 1,000 likely 2016 voters from March 9 through March 16 with a margin of error of 3.1 percent. Voters 30 and under were over sampled.