More Believe Owners of Wedding-Based Businesses Should Be Allowed To Refuse To Serve Same-Sex Couples
12 August 2018 | A poll by Public Religion Research Institute shows statistically significant growth in the percentage of Americans who believe that owners of wedding-based businesses should have the right to not serve same-sex couples if serving them conflicts with their religious beliefs.
An article in Religion News Service said that the poll, surveying 2,008 Americans, found that a little under half – 46 percent – felt that small businesses should not have to serve LGBT couples. Only 41 percent of Americans said the same last year.
Seventy-three percent of Republicans polled said wedding vendors should be allowed to deny services based on religious belief while 27 percent of Democrats felt the same.
Some claim that the poll result may simply reflect a temporary reaction to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission in which a Christian bakeshop owner won a Supreme Court case after refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.
“There’s a reason I think it might be a momentary shift and not a trend,” said Daniel Cox, research director at PRRI. “It may be a short-term reaction to the political environment (rather) than a long-term shift in opinion on this issue.”
