WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans support allowing businesses to refuse wedding-related services to same-sex couples on religious grounds, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted earlier this year. The issue has become a topic for heated debate after critics of Indiana's recently adopted Religious Freedom Restoration Act charged that the law was intended to permit discrimination against gays and lesbians. According to the recent AP-GfK poll, 57 percent of Americans think wedding-related businesses should be allowed to refuse services to gay and lesbian couples because of religious objections, while 39 percent think that should not be allowed. Another recent survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center in September of 2014, found Americans more closely divided, with 49 percent saying a business like a caterer or florist should be required to provide wedding services to same-sex couples and 47 percent saying the business should be allowed to refuse service for religious reasons. A May 2014 Public Religion Research Institute survey that did not specifically mention wedding-related businesses found that only 16 percent of Americans said a small business owner should be allowed to refuse service to gay and lesbian individuals for religious reasons. In the AP-GfK poll, Americans were more likely to say that same-sex marriage should be legal than that businesses should have to provide wedding-related services to gay and lesbian couples. Nearly 8 in 10 Republicans think business owners should be allowed to refuse wedding-related services to same-sex couples for religious reasons, according to the AP-GfK poll.
Comment on What Americans think about gay rights and religious liberty
By EMILY SWANSON, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle
Wed, 04/01/2015 - 11:27pm
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