In religious freedom debates, Americans side with same-sex couples.
Fifty-four percent of Americans say businesses do not have the right to refuse services based on the business’ religious beliefs, while 28 percent say businesses should have that right.
Furthermore, 55 percent say businesses do not have the right to refuse to hire certain people or groups based on the employer’s religious beliefs, compared to 27 percent who say businesses should have that right, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The poll, conducted April 6-8, comes after blowback of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence, this month has died down. Critics viewed the bill as a way for businesses to legally deny gay people and same-sex couples services based on their religious beliefs. Since then, the Indiana state legislature has revised the law and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has changed a similar law his state legislature put forward.
The poll also found that 52 percent of Americans support allowing same-sex couples to marry, almost double the number of Americans who oppose it (32 percent).
Despite the strong support for same-sex marriages, there were divisions on how to deal with them by law.
Thirty-four percent of Americans believe same-sex marriage laws should be made by the U.S. Supreme Court, compared to 22 percent who said same-sex marriage laws should be made at the state level by voter referendum. Eleven percent said state legislators should make the laws and 8 percent said Congress should take the lead.
A whopping 24 percent were unsure how to handle laws on same-sex marriage.
The online survey of roughly 900 U.S. adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
