POLL: Gay Americans Much Less Likely To Be Religious
According to a Pew Research poll from May, lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans are much less likely to describe themselves as religious than their heterosexual counterparts.
Some 59% of gays do identify as religious, but 41% label themselves atheist, agnostic or just non-religious.Among heteros, the divide is much starker—78% identify as religiously affiliated, compared to a mere 22% who don't.
Among the believers, 72% of heterosexuals identified as Christian, compared to just 48% of LGB Americans.
Still, the overall trend in recent years has been toward fewer Americans describing themselves as religious. Between 2007 and 2014, all major Christian denominations saw declines.
What's more, LGB Americans who do identify as Christian (48%), are more likely to consider themselves a part of smaller denominations, rather than larger groups like Catholics or Evangelical.
"The politicization of religion, especially around issues pertaining to particularly personal and theologically minor below-the-belt issues, is a turnoff for anyone who doesn’t already hold socially conservative views—a shrinking subset of the population in and of itself," writes America Blog.
Amen.
