What Americans Think About Business Owners Who Refuse to Serve Same-Sex Weddings

A new poll found that Americans are split on whether business owners should be allowed to decline to participate in same-sex marriages due to their religious beliefs.

A poll conducted by NBC News, the University of Pennsylvania’s Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies and SurveyMonkey found that 48 percent of Americans believe businesses and business owners such as florists, bakers and photographers should be allowed to refuse to serve a same-sex wedding if they feel it would violate their conscience. Fifty-two percent say these businesses should be required to serve them.

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they would be “more likely” to vote for a presidential candidate who supports same-sex marriage in 2016, and 24 percent said they would be “less likely.”

The poll was conducted following a national controversy surrounding Indiana’s passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and a family-owned Indiana pizzeria whose owners said they would decline if asked to cater a same-sex wedding.

The O’Connor family, the owners of Memories Pizza, did not refuse service to any gay customers, but said they wouldn’t want to participate in a wedding that went against their Christian beliefs.

The Daily Signal has previously reported that another recent poll showed a majority of Americans believe business owners shouldn’t be forced to provide services that violate their conscience.