NPR's Ari Shapiro talks wh Currey Cook of Lambda Legal, the gay rights group that wrote a iend-of-the-urt brief the LGBTQ rights se which the Supreme Court sid wh relig eedom.
Contents:
- WHERE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OTHER RELIGNS STAND ON GAY MARRIAGE
- GROUPS OPPOSED TO GAY RIGHTS RAKE LNS AS STAT BATE ANTI-LGBTQ BILLS
- SECTN 2: KNOWG GAYS AND LBIANS, RELIG CONFLICTS, BELIEFS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY
- RELIGN AND ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS
WHERE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OTHER RELIGNS STAND ON GAY MARRIAGE
In today’s heightened culture war, the ffers of the anti-gay movement are overflowg. * religions against gays *
The Supreme Court lg earlier this year legalizg same-sex marriage natnwi has ntued to raise qutns about how the cisn will affect relig groups – pecially those that rema opposed to allowg gay and lbian upl to wed.
) (not to be nfed wh the Prbyterian Church Ameri, which oppos same-sex marriage) and the Epispal Church have wrtled wh the issue for years, often as part of a larger bate on the role of gays and lbians the church. Schaefer’s se has spl the church, wh some clergy floutg the l and marryg same-sex upl and other, more nservative members threateng to leave if the church do not hold to s current l prohibg gay marriage.
GROUPS OPPOSED TO GAY RIGHTS RAKE LNS AS STAT BATE ANTI-LGBTQ BILLS
* religions against gays *
Overall, a solid majory of whe male Prottants (62%) now favor allowg gays and lbians to wed, wh jt 33% opposed, acrdg to a 2015 Pew Rearch Center survey. Acrdg to a recent study by Pew Rearch Center, the major relig groups Ameri that prohib gay marriag clu Amerin Baptist Church, Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats (Mormon), Islam, and Roman Catholicism. The data may unr-state acceptance of homosexualy (bee the data is om 2007), but 1) parisons of groups to recent on same-sex marriage suggt that the change is small, and 2) the relative differenc between relig groups remas the same.
The graph shows that public agreement wh the Supreme Court was mon among groups that have large majori of members who believe that homosexualy should be accepted. Uned Methodists allow LGBT Christians to be members but “self-avowed practicg homosexuals” nnot be clergy, and same-sex marriage nnot be performed.
SECTN 2: KNOWG GAYS AND LBIANS, RELIG CONFLICTS, BELIEFS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY
The multiln-dollar war cht has bolstered a movement that jt a few years ago appeared to be losg ground Ameri’s slong culture war around lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer rights.
“Many of those, while not specifilly tied to a church, are rooted the nservative Christian, biblil sense of human sexualy, ” said Stt McCoy, the terim puty legal director for LGBTQ rights and special ligatn for the SPLC and the SPLC Actn Fund, the group’s polil actn simply holdg a relig belief that views homosexualy or transgenr inty as sful do not tomatilly land a church or an anizatn on the SPLC’s list of hate groups. 'The hard re of the anti-gay movement' When the SPLC began trackg anti-LGBTQ hate the early 2010s, the anizatn noted that “a small terie of groups now prise the hard re of the anti-gay movement. C., that, acrdg to s webse, believ “homosexual nduct is harmful to the persons who engage ” and “is also harmful to society at large” — jumped om over $12 ln to more than $23 ln.
“The groups that are opposed to LGBTQ equaly did their msage ttg and found that attackg gay people is no longer the broadly popular culture war totem that they ed the ’90s, ” Gberg said. Though the vast majory of Amerins say they know gays or lbians, jt over a quarter (28%) say they know “a lot” of people who are gay or lbian, while 43% say they know some and 17% say they only know one or two gays or lbians.
RELIGN AND ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS
While large majori of almost all mographic and partisan groups say they know someone who is gay or lbian, there are differenc both the number of gay and lbian acquatanc people have and whether people say they have close fay members or iends who are gay.
Millennials are among the most likely of any mographic or partisan group to say they know a lot of people who are gay or lbian: Nearly four--ten (38%) say so, pared wh fewer Gen Xers (28%), Boomers (22%) and Silents (15%).
Millennials and Xers are also somewhat more likely than Boomers – and particularly Silents – to say they have close fay members or iends who are gay. Fully four--ten (40%) of those who are not affiliated wh a relign say they personally know a lot of gays and lbians, while 8% say they know none. There are also divis by muny type: People who live urban areas (32%) are more likely to know a lot of people who are gay and lbian than those who live suburban (27%) or ral (20%) muni.