According
to a new poll released Monday by the gay rights group Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), a majority of Christians support gay rights.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said
they support laws banning discrimination against gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people in the areas of employment, housing
and public accommodations. Twenty-two percent of respondents said
they don't support such laws.
A near universal majority of Christians
(86%) said government should treat all people equally, including LGBT
people.
However, opponents of gay rights often
call such laws “special” because they feel gay people are being
given favorable treatment. Therefore, the poll's question, “My
faith leads me to the conclusion that the law should treat all people
equally, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,”
leaves room for misinterpretation.
And a large majority (70%) said
religious-based anti-gay rhetoric does “more harm than good.”
Finally, a previous HRC-commissioned
poll found fifty-two percent of respondents said they oppose the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the Clinton-era law that bans federal
agencies from recognizing the marriages of gay and lesbian couples,
while 36 percent said they favor the law.
House Republicans decided to defend the
law in court after the Obama administration said it would no longer do so.
A
survey released in March found nearly 75% of Roman Catholics
support either marriage (43%) or civil unions (31%) for gay couples.