Pew Poll: When Did You Know?

The Washington Post reports:

In a Pew Research Center poll released Thursday, nine in 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults said society has become more accepting of them and that they expect it to become more so in the years ahead. But only 19 percent said there is “a lot” of acceptance for gays, while 59 percent chose to characterize it more softly, as “some” acceptance, and 21 percent said there was little to none.

More than half said they had been subjected to slurs or jokes about gays, and sizable numbers said they had been rejected by friends or family, threatened with physical attack, or made to feel unwelcome at a house of worship. The Pew survey of 1,197 LGBT adults is the first of its kind by a major polling organization. It asked them when they realized they weren’t straight, when they came out and how they have felt ostracized at times. Compared with the general public, Pew said, gay men and lesbians are more liberal, more Democratic, less religious, less happy with their lives, yet more satisfied with the direction the country is headed.

Make you sure visit Pew's fascinating quote farm from the poll's respondents. An interactive graph lets you compare your experiences with your age peers. (Tipped by JMG reader James)

Marriage Trends By Denomination

Embiggen or read the Pew Forum's report.

Pew Surveys 39 Countries

From the survey report:

Attitudes about homosexuality have been fairly stable in recent years, except in South Korea, the United States and Canada, where the percentage saying homosexuality should be accepted by society has grown by at least ten percentage points since 2007. These are among the key findings of a new survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in 39 countries among 37,653 respondents from March 2 to May 1, 2013. The survey also finds that acceptance of homosexuality is particularly widespread in countries where religion is less central in people’s lives. These are also among the richest countries in the world. In contrast, in poorer countries with high levels of religiosity, few believe homosexuality should be accepted by society.

More charts are at the link.

Updated Marriage Map

Last night I wrote to Pew's Stateline blog to question the coding of New Mexico on their just-posted map.  The author of the article responds: "We decided to lump it [New Mexico] in with the 'forbid' states because the state in practice has a ban – same-sex couples can’t marry, aren’t issued licenses, etc. Technically, yes, there is no law – but the absence of a law *allowing* the unions is treated as a de facto ban by officials there, so that’s why we coded it that way. So, it’s not perfect, but it seemed like the best fit."

Pew Poll Religions Breakdown

Source.

Pew Poll: More Gains For Marriage

Pew breaks down marriage support by region:

In New England, 62% favor same-sex marriage, while 29% oppose it. In the mid-Atlantic, 57% favor and 34% oppose allowing gay marriage. Opinions among those on the Pacific Coast are similar (54% favor, 37% oppose).  In the Midwest, which includes Minnesota, opinion is more evenly divided (46% favor, 44% oppose). Voters in Minnesota did not approve gay marriage, but did vote to keep the ban from becoming part of the state’s constitution. People in the South express greater opposition. A majority (56%) in the central Southern states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas oppose same-sex marriage, while about a third (35%) favors it. The divide is more narrow in the South Atlantic states such as Florida, Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas (48% oppose, 42% favor).

(Tipped by JMG reader Nicholas)

Final Pew Presidential Poll

Details.

FRC: Church Membership Is Shrinking Because They Don't Hate Gays Enough

The Family Research Council says that the reason 20% of Americans now say they have no religious affiliation is because churches aren't being hateful enough to keep people interested. Via press release:

As more churches move away from biblical authority, their attendance suffers. Just ask the Episcopal Church, whose pews are virtually empty after the decision to endorse homosexuality. It's time to push back on the spin that's feeding our weak brethren who say that compromising truth in pursuit of love is the way to reach the lost. Intuitively, people want to anchor their lives to something meaningful--something that demands the sacrifice and discipline of "taking up your cross." When a denomination abandons the truth and waters everything down to love, it reduces the church to another hour of Dr. Phil--which is something Americans can get without ever leaving home.

There's "too much love" in the church. Yeah.

20% Of Americans Claim "No Religion"

According to Pew Research, the number of Americans who say they have "no religion" in their lives is soaring.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released an analytic study today titled, Nones on the Rise, now that one in five Americans (19.6%) claim no religious identity. This group, called "Nones," is now the nation's second-largest category only to Catholics, and outnumbers the top Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists. The shift is a significant cultural, religious and even political change. Count former Southern Baptist Chris Dees, 26, in this culture shift. He grew up Baptist in the most religious state in the USA: Mississippi. By the time he went off to college for mechanical engineering, "I just couldn't make sense of it any more," Dees says. Now, he's a leader of the Secular Student Alliance chapter at Mississippi State and calls himself an atheist.

The report also notes that for the first time the number of Protestants is under 50%. (Tipped by JMG reader Mark)

UPDATE: The Center For Inquiry reacts via press release.

“Though the ‘unaffiliated’ are not entirely made up of nonbelievers, the fact that one in five Americans have rejected traditional religion means that the enormous influence religion has had over policy and culture will continue to wane,” said Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO of the Center for Inquiry. “Furthermore, thanks to the high percentage of ‘nones’ among the younger generations, these numbers tell us that we are closer than ever to realizing a society in which religious dogma has no significant influence on public policy—that is, a society based on reason and science rather than myth and superstition.”

New Pew Poll Shows Obama With Eight Point National Lead Among Likely Voters

The new Pew Poll is going to cause a lot of anguish in Teabagistan. And this poll came before the "47 percent" debacle hit the fan.

At this stage in the campaign, Barack Obama is in a strong position compared with past victorious presidential candidates. With an eight-point lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters, Obama holds a bigger September lead than the last three candidates who went on to win in November, including Obama four years ago. In elections since 1988, only Bill Clinton, in 1992 and 1996, entered the fall with a larger advantage. Not only does Obama enjoy a substantial lead in the horserace, he tops Romney on a number of key dimensions. His support is stronger than his rival’s, and is positive rather than negative. Mitt Romney’s backers are more ardent than they were pre-convention, but are still not as enthusiastic as Obama’s. Roughly half of Romney’s supporters say they are voting against Obama rather than for the Republican nominee.

NOTE: Polling "likely voters" tends to provide a more accurate forecast that polling merely "registered voters."

Clint Beats Romney In RNC Poll

Enjoy.

Pew Poll: Number Of Conservatives Who Claim Obama Is Muslim Doubles

And then there's this curiously conflicting result.Source.

Europe Wants Obama

So says a new poll released by Pew:

Support for Obama’s re-election is especially high in Europe, Japan and Brazil – all areas where his image remains generally positive. About nine-in-ten in France and Germany think the U.S. leader deserves a second term. About seven-in-ten in Britain, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic agree. Even in Greece and Poland, two EU countries with lower levels of approval for Obama’s policies, pluralities support his re-election. Broad majorities in Brazil and Japan do the same.

Polls Say People Hate Polls

Fewer that 10% of those contacted bother to complete a political poll. But pollsters say that doesn't really affect the results.

The Pew Research Center’s latest detailed study of survey quality paints a worrisome picture for survey response rates, but again shows that a well-done telephone poll — even one with response rates in the high single-digits — accurately represent the U.S. population on a broad range of political and demographic measures. The apparent accuracy of results from a survey where fewer than one in 10 people completed the interview parallels previous studies showing a weak connection between response rates and survey quality. A 2008 study of more than 100 surveys, including many media polls, concluded that “lower response rates do not notably reduce the quality of survey demographic estimates.”

Do you hang up on pollsters?

Evolution Poll: It's A Wash

And who cares the least about Obama's evolution? Why, it's those very black voters that he supposedly completely alienated. Only 13% of black voters say Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage causes them to view him "less favorably." Of that tiny group, it's not known if their displeasure was even great enough to change their vote.

New Pew Marriage Poll

What's Important To Voters

Source.

How The Public Views Political Terms

(Source)

Ten Years Of Changing Attitudes

Think Progress has more charts from Pew Research.

Opinion Of U.S. Improves Under Obama

According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, global opinion of the United States has improved dramatically in almost all surveyed countries since Barack Obama took office.

The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama. In many countries opinions of the United States are now about as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office. Improvements in the U.S. image have been most pronounced in Western Europe, where favorable ratings for both the nation and the American people have soared. But opinions of America have also become more positive in key countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, as well.

Signs of improvement in views of America are seen even in some predominantly Muslim countries that held overwhelmingly negative views of the United States in the Bush years. The most notable increase occurred in Indonesia, where people are well aware of Obama's family ties to the country and where favorable ratings of the U.S. nearly doubled this year. However for the most part, opinions of the U.S. among Muslims in the Middle East remain largely unfavorable, despite some positive movement in the numbers in Jordan and Egypt. Animosity toward the U.S., however, continues to run deep and unabated in Turkey, the Palestinian territories and Pakistan.

Israel is the only country of the 25 surveyed in which opinion of the United States has declined over the last year.