Turns Out, Most Americans Aren't Cool With Businesses Denying LGBTQ Patrons, Either
A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos suggests that the majority of Americans aren't buying religion as an excuse to discriminate against the queer community.
The poll, conducted via an online survey of 722 American adults, found that 72% of respondents believe businesses shouldn't have the right on religious grounds to deny LGBTQ patrons because of their gender identity or sexuality.
About 9% of participants said that refusal was permissible "only in certain circumstances," while the remaining percentage maintained that businesses had the right to deny queer patrons, or didn't know enough to have an opinion.
Like other surveys of its kind, the poll also found that acceptance for equal marriage has increased across the board: Some 53% of respondents believed that gays and lesbians should be able to marry, up from 42% in a similar Reuters/Ipsos poll from 2013.
A Pew Research Center survey from last June reported even higher numbers, with some 62% of respondents in favor of marriage equality.
Notably, the findings were released on the same day that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of anti-gay baker Jack Phillips in the infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission court case.