Survey Finds Increased Support for Religious-Based Refusals To Serve Small Business Customers

On Tuesday, the Public Religion Research Institute released the results of its survey finding increased public support for allowing small businesses to refuse service to various minority groups because of the business owner's religious views. (Full text of survey results.) The report finds 30% say it should be permissible to refuse service to gays or lesbians on religious grounds, while 29% say the same for refusals to serve transgender individuals. 24% support allowing refusal to serve atheists; 22% say this should be allowed as to Muslims.19% say it should be allowed as to Jews. 15% say small businesses should be able to refuse service to African-Americans if it conflicts with religious beliefs.