This month the Public Religion Research Institute released the results of its annual American Values Atlas, which surveys more than 40,000 people about their lives and attitudes. Of the 40,000 respondents in the sample, more than 700 were Mormon.
The full report measures several other things besides LGBT issues, including perceptions of racial discrimination, but here I’m just focusing on three findings about how Mormons feel about same-sex marriage and religiously-based refusals of services to LGBT people.
-
Mormons still oppose same-sex marriage, but . . .
According to the PRRI, 55% of Mormons in 2016 said they opposed same-sex marriage:
There are only three major religious groups among whom a majority oppose same-sex marriage: Jehovah’s Witnesses (53% oppose vs. 25% support), Mormons (55% oppose vs. 37% support), and white evangelical Protestants (61% oppose vs. 31% support). Together, these three religious groups comprise only 19 percent of the general public.
Even though 55% of Mormons still oppose same-sex marriage, that opposition is rapidly eroding: PRRI’s 2015 data about Mormons had 66% opposing it and 26% in favor.
That’s an 11-point drop in opposition over just one year (66% to 55%), with a corresponding 11-point rise in support (26% to 37%).