Media Advisory: July 16, 2010
Contact: Adam Muhlendorf, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
(202) 265-3000; (202) 641-6216 (c); adam@rabinowitz-dorf.com

New Poll:  Only One-in-Five Californians Say Proposition 8 ‘Good Thing’

Comprehensive New Poll Examining Religious Based Attitudes on Same Sex Marriage Two Years after Proposition 8 to be released on Wednesday

LOS ANGELES - A new survey of over 3,000 Californians being released on Wednesday, July 21, finds only one-in-five Californians believe passage of Proposition 8 is a “good thing” for the state. The results are being released as California voters await U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s decision on whether Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution.

The survey is the most comprehensive breakdown by religion of where Californians stand on same sex marriage since Proposition 8 was approved nearly.  The report, which will be released in its entirety at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in the Crocker Room at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel (251 South Olive Street), examines the role of religion on attitudes about a number of gay and lesbian issues including: marriage, adoption, gay and lesbian people serving in the military, and workplace discrimination.  The report highlights shifting attitudes within the African American community, deep divisions within the Latino community, the influence of clergy on parishioners, and insights about the role religion plays in the Proposition 8 debate. 

The bilingual (Spanish and English) poll was conducted by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and funded by the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund with additional support provided by the Ford Foundation.  Over a two week period at the end of June, PRRI surveyed 2,801 Californians and additional oversamples of African Americans and Latino Protestants to allow for in-depth analysis of these groups.

What:

Public Religion Research Institute will release new findings from a survey of Californians on support for same sex marriages and a range of other gay and lesbian policy issues.  The PRRI report will include the most comprehensive breakdown of support by religious groups to date and analysis of the impact of religious beliefs on issue support.

Who:

Robert P. Jones, Ph.D
Founding CEO, Public Religion Research Institute

Daniel Cox
Director of Research, Public Religion Research Institute

Rev. Madison Shockley
Pastor, Pilgrim United Church of Christ (Carlsbad, Calif.)

Diane Winston, Ph.D.
Knight Chair in Media and Religion, Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California

When:

Wednesday, July 21, 2010
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. PST

Where:

Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza

The Crocker Room
251 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, California 90012

NOTE FOR REPORTERS OUTSIDE THE LOS ANGELES AREA: If you are a reporter located outside of the Los Angeles area or unable to attend the media conference in person, but interested in covering the release of the polling data, please dial:
1-800-895-0231
ID:  Public Religion Research Institute / Proposition 8

Public Religion Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent research and education organization specializing in work at the intersection of religion, values, and public life.

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Public Religion Research released jointly with Third Way today Beyond the God Gap: A New Roadmap for Reaching Religious Americans on Public Policy Issues.  In today’s Huffington Post, Third Way’s Jim Kessler and PRR’s Robert P. Jones outline why we created this resource to help journalists, policy makers, and the public retire old stereotypes about religious Americans and politics.

From the Huffington Post:

“Insofar as Evangelicals have demonized gays and lesbians [they] should repent before God.” Was it Jon Stewart who said that? Bill Maher? Barney Frank? No, it was said by an Evangelical pastor of a Southern megachurch — a conservative who calls Mike Huckabee a friend. We live in a new era, marked by an aging and declining Christian right that is increasingly eclipsed by the Tea Party, a nascent but growing chorus of diverse progressive religious voices, and a broadening of political agendas among many people of faith. Maybe it’s time to rethink our assumptions about religious Americans and public policy.

That conviction is the guiding principle of a new paper called Beyond the God Gap, which provides a road map for navigating the complex terrain of religion and public policy in America….

These old “god gap” assumptions [the authors] encountered in our pasts were not atypical. Public conversations about religion and politics continue to fall into well-worn ruts based on stereotypes: evangelical Christians march monolithically to a right-wing tune; mainline Protestants are no longer relevant; Catholics in the pews affirm all official church positions; and the non-religious are moral relativists. But as we have discovered through research and in our own lives, the truth is more nuanced and interesting. And understanding this truth is heartening and essential not only for anyone hoping to make progress on specific issues such as gay and lesbian rights, abortion, and immigration reform, but also for anyone working to foster a more civil dialogue throughout the country.

Today, four religious groupings make up about three-quarters of the U.S. population: white evangelical Protestants, white Mainline Protestants, African American Protestants, and Roman Catholics. In Beyond the God Gap, we took a fresh look not only at political attitudes on key issues, but also at the underlying cultural fabric and theological beliefs that help explain attitudes toward government, voting patterns, and shifts taking place within each of these religious families.

Read the rest of the article at the Huffington Post.

On October 26, the Washington D.C. City Council held a 7-hour hearing on the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009,” which would legalize same-sex marriage in Washington D.C. One of the prominent voices testifying in favor of the bill was Rev. Dr. Joseph Palacios, a sociologist at Georgetown University and a priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Dr. Palacios, who is also the founder of Catholics United for Marriage Equality, noted that…

“On a great many social issues a majority of [Catholics] have divergent opinions regarding issues pertaining to the Church’s positions regarding family, sexuality, reproduction, gender, and identity issues that rely on natural law arguments for the Church’s logic. These positions often conflict with the lived experiences of Catholics as they encounter social injustice.”

To illustrate his point and to make the case for marriage equality Dr. Palacios drew heavily on research and analysis by Public Religion Research, particularly on our report, “Roman Catholics and LGBT Justice Issues,” which he called “the most comprehensive study of Catholics and gay and lesbian issues to date.”

Dr. Palacios drew on the following findings in making his case for marriage equality:

• ACCEPTANCE OF HOMOSEXUALITY: Catholics are the single most favorable Christian denomination toward LGBT acceptance in U.S. society: 58% believe homosexuality should be accepted by society versus 30% who do not.
• MARRIAGE EQUALITY: While 46% of all Catholics are opposed to marriage equality for gays and lesbians, 43% do accept full marriage equality. Among Catholics 18-29 years of age 60% are for full marriage equality, compared to 37% who do not.
• LEGAL RECOGNITION OF GAY AND LESBIAN RELATIONSHIPS: 69% of Catholics favor the legalization of the basic rights accorded to married heterosexual couples for gays and lesbians in long-term committed relationships, such as hospital visitation rights, health insurance, and pension coverage. This is a significant statistic compared to 63% of mainline Christians, 36% of white evangelicals, and 44% of black Protestants.

Dr. Palacios concluded by drawing the following implications from the data:

“This data indicates that Catholics are a key religious group in the debate toward the acceptance of civil marriage for same-sex couples. Catholics under 65 favor marriage equality and this number will increase year-by-year as these younger Catholics continue to shape public opinion toward full civil and human rights for gays and lesbians. …

“Bill 18-482 guarantees the protection of each religious organization’s marriage doctrine and practices and not forcing same-sex marriages to be performed in the Catholic Church or other religious organizations.”

To read the full report on Catholics and LGBT Equality, click here.

SURVEY SHOWS LUTHERAN CLERGY SUPPORT

ORDINATION OF GAY AND LESBIAN CLERGY

SURVEY SHOWS ELCA CLERGY SUPPORT PERFORMING SAME-SEX MARRIAGES WHERE LEGAL

Contact: Dr. Robert P. Jones, President, 202-425-0277, rjones@publicreligion.org
For the PDF version of this press release, click here.

A majority of clergy who belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) support ordination of gay and lesbian clergy, and a plurality (46%) support performing same-sex marriages in states where they are legal, according to a recent national survey by Public Religion Research. The Clergy Voices Survey is the most in-depth study ever conducted of Mainline Protestant clergy and contained nearly 60 questions related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in the church and society.

“ELCA clergy are generally supportive of a range of rights for gay and lesbian people both inside and outside the church. Nationwide, a majority of ELCA clergy support ordaining gay and lesbian clergy, and only a minority of ELCA clergy opposes performing same-sex marriages in the states where they are legal,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, President of Public Religion Research, who conducted the study. “ELCA clergy also strongly believe that the gospel message requires full inclusion of gay and lesbian members in the life of the church, and support for ordination and participation in marriage ceremonies of gay and lesbian parishioners are concrete expressions of that theological conviction.”

Seven-in-ten ELCA clergy say that the gospel message requires full inclusion of LGBT people in the church, and a majority of ELCA clergy supports ordination of gay and lesbian clergy . A solid majority (54%) of ELCA clergy says that gay and lesbian people should be eligible for ordination with no special requirements. About one-third (32%) says that gay and lesbian people should be eligible for ordination only if they are celibate, and only 14% say gay and lesbian people should not be eligible at all.

A plurality of ELCA clergy support performing civil marriages where legal. By a significant margin, ELCA clergy disagree with the statement, “Even if it were legal, I would not be willing to perform a civil union or marriage for a same-sex couple” (46% disagree vs. 37% agree). As a matter of public policy, the overwhelming majority of ELCA clergy support either same-sex marriage (37%) or civil unions (44%), and only 1-in-5 (19%) says there should be no legal recognition for same-sex relationships. ELCA clergy are also strongly supportive of other rights for LGBT families and individuals, such as adoption rights, hate crimes laws, and workplace discrimination protections.

A majority (53%) of ELCA clergy report that their views on LGBT issues are more liberal today than they were a decade ago. One-third (33%) says their views have not changed, and only 14% say they have become more conservative.

The Clergy Voices Survey was conducted by mail among a national random sample of senior clergy serving congregations in the seven largest Mainline Protestant denominations. The survey contained over 250 separate questions and generated 2,658 respondents with a response rate of 44%. The findings represent the opinions of senior Lutheran clergy currently serving congregations. The study included a national random sample of 387 Lutheran clergy with a margin of error +/- 5.5%. The Clergy Voices Survey was funded by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Full results of the study, including a full top line questionnaire and detailed methodology, can be found at http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=208.

# # #

SURVEY SHOWS PRESBYTERIAN (USA) CLERGY SUPPORT LEGAL RECOGNITION OF GAY COUPLES’ RELATIONSHIPS, ORDINATION OF GAY AND LESBIAN CLERGY

SUPPORT CHURCH DOING MORE TO HELP MEMBERS CONSIDER GAY AND LESBIAN ISSUES

Contact: Dr. Robert P. Jones, President, 202-425-0277, rjones@publicreligion.org

For the PDF version of this press release, click here.

In recent years, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been debating a number of policies related to the place of gay and lesbian people in society and in church life. The 2008 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) authorized the formation of a special committee to study the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community. The committee is currently collecting opinion from members and clergy on this important issue.

This release reflects findings from the 2008 Clergy Voices Survey (CVS). CVS, conducted by Public Religion Research, is the largest public opinion survey of Mainline Protestant clergy ever conducted. Because of the prominence of debates over gay and lesbian issues in Mainline Protestant denominational meetings in recent years, CVS included nearly 60 questions on gay and lesbian issues related to both public policy and church policy. The findings below represent the opinions of Presbyterian senior clergy currently serving congregations. The study included a national random sample of 411 PCUSA clergy; the Research Services Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) provided the sample.

Gay and Lesbian Members, Conversations about LGBT Issues in Church

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of PCUSA clergy report that they have lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) members in their congregations. Only 1-in-10 (11%) reports that they are not aware of LGBT members, and one-fourth says that they do not know.

Like other Mainline Protestant clergy, the vast majority of PCUSA clergy (96%) say that LGBT persons are welcome in their church. However, there is less consensus about whether “welcome” is equivalent to “full inclusion.” A strong but smaller majority (61%) of PCUSA clergy agrees that the gospel message requires the full inclusion of LGBT people in the church, while slightly less than a third (30%) disagree.

A strong majority (58%) of PCUSA clergy thinks that their church should do more to help members think carefully about LGBT issues. However, a majority (54%) also reports that their congregation has difficulty talking about LGBT issues. Barriers to better conversations are both theological and practical. On the one hand, there is considerable diversity of opinion among clergy on basic issues such as whether the Bible addresses what we understand today as sexual orientation; a majority (53%) says it does not, while 42% affirm that it does. On the other hand, clergy are weighing pastoral concerns. Clergy report that the top two barriers to having conversations about LGBT issues are concerns about creating divisions within the congregation (38%) and congregational discomfort with sexuality issues in general (31%).

Gay and Lesbian Church Leadership

PCUSA clergy strongly support LGBT persons in lay leadership roles, and generally support the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy with some caveats. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of PCUSA clergy agree with the statement, “Qualified LGBT persons should be eligible for lay leadership positions in our church,” compared to 29% who disagree (Note: The survey did not distinguish between ordained and non-ordained lay leadership positions).

Half of PCUSA clergy favor ordaining lesbian and gay clergy without any special requirements, and an additional one-third supports the ordination of lesbian and gay clergy only if they are celibate. Only 15% oppose the ordination of lesbian and gay persons under any circumstances.

Marriage and Civil Unions

More than three-quarters of PCUSA clergy support some legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships. Thirty-eight percent support same-sex marriage, and 38% support civil unions for gay couples. Only about 1-in-4 (24%) say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship.

When clergy are offered a religious liberty reassurance that the law would guarantee that no church or congregation would be required to perform marriages for same-sex couples, support for marriage increases 14 points to majority support (52%), support for civil unions falls to 24%, and the same number say there should be no legal recognition for same-sex couples (24%).

With regard to clergy roles in same-gender relationship recognition, PCUSA clergy are divided over whether they would be willing to perform a civil union or marriage for a same-sex couple even if it were legal in their state. A plurality (49%) says that they would not be willing, compared to 44% who say they would be willing. Seven percent say they are unsure.

Adoption

Approximately 6-in-10 (61%) PCUSA clergy believe that otherwise qualified gay people should be able to adopt children. Only 1-in-4 disagrees, and 14% say they are not sure. PCUSA clergy are somewhat more supportive of adoption rights for gay and lesbian people than Mainline Protestant clergy overall.

Changing Views on LGBT Issues

More than 4-in-10 (43%) PCUSA clergy report that their views on LGBT issues have become more liberal over the past decade. Nearly an identical number (44%) report that their views have not changed over this period. Only 13% say their views have become more conservative.

About the Clergy Voices Survey

The Clergy Voices Survey (CVS) is the largest survey of Mainline Protestant clergy ever conducted. CVS was conducted by mail between March 3 and September 15, 2008, by Public Religion Research and funded by a grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Dr. Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox served as the principal researchers for the study. The margin of sampling error for the Presbyterian subsample is +/- 5.3%. The full report can be accessed at http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=208.

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Public Religion Research has a new article out in Religion Dispatches about the recent measures passed by the Episcopal Church authorizing clergy to provide “generous pastoral response” to gay and lesbian couples and allowing the ordination of gays and lesbians. Using data from the Clergy Voices Survey we demonstrate that despite conservative criticism about the approval of these measures they are entirely consistent with the views of Episcopal clergy.

Episcopal clergy are highly supportive of the idea that “God has called and may call” to ministry gays and lesbians in committed lifelong relationships. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Episcopal clergy say that gays and lesbians should be eligible for ordination without special requirements. About 1-in-4 (23%) say that only celibate gay and lesbian people should be eligible for ordination, and only 5% say gay and lesbian people should not be eligible at all.

The views of Episcopal clergy are largely consistent with the views of clergy from most Mainline denominations. Among clergy in the seven largest Mainline Protestant denominations, all but two register majority or plurality support for ordaining gay and lesbian clergy with no special requirements. Episcopal clergy express stronger support than every other denomination except the United Church of Christ (UCC). Among the two denominational exceptions (two of the larger Mainline Protestant denominations), United Methodist and American Baptist clergy, only 33% and 28% respectively support ordination of gays and lesbians. Overall, 46% of Mainline Protestant clergy say that gays and lesbians should be eligible for ordination without any special requirements.

We have a new article up at Newsweek/Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog about what the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire reveals about the intersection of religion and same-sex marriage.  You can read the full piece here.

One June 3, New Hampshire governor John Lynch signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, making it the sixth state to affirm marriage equality. The passage of the New Hampshire law highlights the complex role of religion in the debates over marriage equality.

Mainline Protestant Dominance in States with Marriage Equality
First, there is an interesting religious-affiliation pattern emerging from the mosaic of states that have legalized same-sex marriage: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Whereas white evangelical Protestants outnumber white Mainline Protestants in the general population (26% compared to 18%), white Mainline Protestants are the dominant Protestant voices in the six states that have marriage equality laws.

This pattern is consistent with recent polling that shows strong support for gay and lesbian equality among mainline Protestants in the general population. For example, white Mainline Protestants were the religious group most opposed (50%) to Proposition 8, which repealed the same-sex marriage law in California, and were more than four times as likely to oppose Proposition 8 as white evangelical Protestants (12%) (Public Policy Institute of California 2008). At the national level, only 26% of white Mainline Protestants oppose relationship recognition of any kind for gay and lesbian people, compared to more than 58% of white evangelicals (Public Religion Research, on behalf of Faith in Public Life, 2008) .

Moreover, recent polling indicates that in addition to Mainline Protestant people in the pews, Mainline Protestant clergy are largely supportive of gay and lesbian equality. The recently-released Clergy Voices Survey showed that nearly 8-in-10 (79%) Mainline clergy agree that gay and lesbian Americans should have “all the same rights and privileges as other American citizens,” up from 70% in 2001. And large majorities of Mainline Protestant clergy support workplace protections, hate crimes legislation, and adoption rights for gay and lesbian people (Public Religion Research 2009).

The Importance of Religious Liberty Reassurances
The legalization of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire also highlights a second major way religion plays a role in these debates: the relationship between religious liberty and marriage equality. Governor Lynch had threatened to veto the bill if it did not include language specifying that churches and religious groups would not be forced to conduct same-sex marriages or offer other services. While these religious liberty rights are already well-established in constitutional law, recent polling among Americans–particularly religious Americans–demonstrates a clear increase in support for marriage equality when laws include what we might call a “religious liberty reassurance.”

…

Read the rest of the article at Newsweek/Washington Post here.

The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8, which repealed an existing California law allowing marriage between same-sex couples by amending the state constitution to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples. The role of religion in that vote has been the subject of much interest and debate, but solid data on religion has been scattered.

Last December, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) conducted a state-wide poll to provide a more nuanced picture of the general election and Proposition 8 vote in the state. Public Religion Research worked with PPIC analysts to produce findings for major religious groups that were not made available in their initial data release.  We have released a new memo summarizing these findings, along with summaries of the NEP Exit Poll findings on religion and the Prop 8 vote.

The full memo can be found here:
http://www.publicreligion.org/research/published/?id=131

The following are the key findings regarding major religious groups and the Proposition 8 vote:

• The data show a more complex picture among religious groups than stereotypes often portray. For example, while white evangelicals were strongly supportive of Prop 8 (88%-12%), white mainline Protestants evenly split their vote (50%-50%). This finding resonates with the Clergy Voices Survey PRR released just last week of white Mainline Protestant clergy, which showed Mainline clergy more supportive of gay rights than the general population and largely in line with Mainline Protestant people in the pews. That study can be referenced here.
• The largest group of religious voters, those who occasionally attend religious services (46% of CA voters), opposed Prop 8 (54%-46%). Only those voters who attend religious services weekly or more (32% of CA voters) supported Prop 8 (84% - 16%).
• Supporters and Opponents of Prop 8 brought different motivations and value frames to the ballot box.  Supporters felt more strongly that the vote was important and were driven primarily by the desire to “preserve marriage” and by religious objections to same-sex marriage. Opponents felt less strongly that the vote was important and were motivated primarily by a desire to extend equal rights and freedoms to gay and lesbian people.

Overall, this analysis cautions against an overly simplistic view of the role of religion in the Proposition 8 vote.

On February 18, Public Religion Research presented new findings on American attitudes toward same-sex marriage from the Faith & American Politics Survey. The report examines religious and generational differences in support for marriage equality and looks at some of the most important demographic predictors of support. The report also offers insight about other significant factors influencing support, like a religious liberty assurance and personal relationships with gay or lesbian people. To read the full report, click here.