Evangelicals are slowly becoming more supportive of marriage equality
(Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
A new study has found that Evangelical support for marriage inclusivity and acceptance of LGBT people is slowly rising.
The study carried out by the Pew Research centre found that two-thirds of Americans are now in favour of equal marriage laws.
The research found that the support for marriage equality across different religious groups varies, but all are slowly showing an increase.
67 percent of Catholics and 68 percent of mainstream Protestants back same-sex marriage equality.
However, the majority of white evangelical Protestants still oppose the movement with 59 percents being against legalisation.
Despite the majority still opposing same-sex marriages, the acceptance rate has grown 21 percent in the last decade from a 14 percent acceptance rate up to 35 percent now.
The acceptance rate among younger evangelicals is much higher with 47 percent of those born after 1964 supporting the movement.
This is up from 29 percent in March 2016.
However, older religious people born between 1928 and 1964 have not shown a massive increase in acceptance has only risen 1 percent from 25 to 26.
The report comes after a UK-based evangelical pressure group claimed that Christians will face “criminal sanctions” following Tim Farron’s gay sex dispute.
Christian Concern, which lobbies against discrimination protections for LGBT people, proclaimed him the latest in “a long line of casualties”.
The American Family Association, a separate anti-LGBT evangelical group, branded gay conservatives a “cancer” on Republicans.
The insult came after President Trump agreed not to axe protections for LGBT workers.
In Australia, an evangelical Christian activist smashed a pie in the face of gay Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
After declaring the company’s support for equal marriage, Mr Joyce faced a backlash encouraged by the anti-LGBT lobby.
The exec was abused by government ministers and trashed in the media – and the negative coverage led one angry Christian pensioner to attack him with a lemon meringue pie.
67-year-old pie attacker Tony Overheu has since appeared in court on charges of assault, damaging property, trespass and giving false details to police.
