Homosexuality, Religious Attitudes Toward

Attitudes in the United States toward marginalized groups have been marked by increased tolerance according to polls. Although attitudes toward lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) people have, in many important respects, become more tolerant, large segments of the population continue to hold negative attitudes toward LGBT individuals. Some general trends and patterns are obvious: in general, men and people of color tend to hold more negative attitudes toward LGBT individuals than do women and white people, and people tend to hold more negative attitudes toward gay men than lesbians.

In terms of both demographic patterns and basic doctrine ideology, some segments of the religious community persistently hold and actively promote intolerant, hostile views of LGBT people. Although the vast majority of religions place great ...