Americans say gays are ok

June 02, 2010
Americans say gays are ok





For the first time since Gallup began measuring the "moral acceptability" of homosexuality, a majority of Americans support gay and lesbian relations.



Last month's poll found 52 percent of adults consider homosexuality acceptable, while 43 percent find it morally wrong.



Christians and people from other religious traditions have grown more tolerant of gays and lesbians, according to Gallup. The percentage of Catholics calling gay relations "morally acceptable" has increased by more than a third in the past five years, up to 62 percent. More Americans also favor legalizing gay marriage.


Although America's stance on homosexuality remains a contentious social issue, nearly split nationwide, gays and lesbians are moving towards equality in some of the country's mainline Protestant denominations. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles recently ordained the church's first openly gay female bishop. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided last year to allow non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy to serve. Despite some dissenters, the ELCA has continued to seek the full inclusion of homosexual church leaders and members.

The Houston area has also seen record levels of support for gay rights. The most recent Houston Area Survey, conducted by researchers at Rice University found more area residents believe gays should be able to adopt (from 19 percent in 1991 to 52 percent in 2010), serve openly in the military (from 52 percent in 2000 to 73 percent in 2010) and have the same legal marriage status as heterosexuals (from 34 percent in 1993 to 43 percent in 2010).

In the survey, fewer people cited homosexuality as a personal choice rather than a factor of genetics and environment (from 41 percent in 2008 to 34 percent in 2010).

Posted by Kate Shellnutt at June 2, 2010 09:39 AM

Source: http://blogs.chron.com/believeitornot/2010/06/americans_say_gays_are_ok_1.html