Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: They R With Us Gays

 A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research

• Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex 
• relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and 
• Americans overall. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics favor either
•  allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to
•  form civil unions (31%). Only 22% of Catholics say there should
•  be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship.
   
• When same-sex marriage is defined explicitly as a civil marriage, 
• support is dramatically higher among Catholics. If marriage for gay 
• couples is defined as a civil marriage “like you get at city hall,” Catholic
•  support for allowing gay couples to marry increases by 28 points, from 
• 43% to 71%. A similar pattern exists in the general population, but the 
• Catholic increase is more pronounced.
   
• Beyond the issue of same-sex marriage, Catholic support for rights
•  for gays and lesbian people is strong and slightly higher than the
•  general public. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Catholics favor laws that 
• would protect gay and lesbian people against discrimination in the workplace;
•  63% of Catholics favor allowing gay and lesbian people to serve openly in
•  the military; and 6-in-10 (60%) Catholics favor allowing gay and lesbian 
• couples to adopt children.
   
• Compared to the general church-going public, Catholics are significantly 
• less likely to hear about the issue of homosexuality from their clergy, but
•  those who do are much more likely to hear negative messages. Only about
•  1-in-4 (27%) Catholics who attend church services regularly say their clergy 
• speak about the issue of homosexuality, but nearly two-thirds (63%) of this 
• group say the messages they hear are negative.
   
• Compared to other religious groups, Catholics are significantly more likely
•  to give their church poor marks for how it is handling the issue of 
• homosexuality. Less than 4-in-10 (39%) Catholics give their own church top 
• marks (a grade of either an A or a B) on its handling of the issue of homosexuality.
   
• Seven-in-ten Catholics say that messages from America’s places of worship
•  contribute a lot (33%) or a little (37%) to higher rates of suicide among
•  gay and lesbian youth.
• Catholics overwhelmingly reject the idea that sexual orientation can
•  be changed. Nearly 7-in-10 (69%) Catholics disagree that homosexual
•  orientation can be changed; less than 1-in-4 (23%) believe that it can be changed.
   
• A majority of Catholics (56%) believe that sexual relations between
•  two adults 
• of the same gender is not a sin. Among the general population,
•  less than half (46%) believe it is not a sin (PRRI, Religion & Politics 
• Tracking Survey, October 2010).

Read the full report here. 

Read the press release here.