A majority of U.S. pastors continue to oppose same-sex marriage, and a previous upward trend in support for same-sex marriage among mainline clergy is slowing, according to a new LifeWay Research report. of reportA survey released Tuesday found that 21% of Protestant pastors would have “no problem” with same-sex marriage in 2023, down slightly from 24% of pastors who said the same in 2019.
Reports say The Christian StandtLifeway also found that 46% of progressive mainline pastors support same-sex marriage, up from the 32% reported in 2010 but not significantly different from 47% in 2019.
“The growth to date has been most pronounced among mainline pastors, and those levels did not increase in the latest survey,” Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, told LifeWay magazine.
“Despite ongoing denomination-wide debates at the national and judicial levels about the morality of same-sex marriage, there has been no overall increase in the number of Protestant pastors who support same-sex marriage,” McConnell said.
The report also found that 7% of evangelical pastors support same-sex marriage, that pastors between the ages of 18 and 44 are more likely to support same-sex marriage than pastors over 65 (27% vs. 15%), and that only 8% of pastors of congregations with more than 250 regular members have no problem with same-sex marriage.
LifeWay Research conducted the survey of 1,004 Protestant pastors from Aug. 29, 2023 to Sept. 20, 2023. The survey had a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
In March, the Public Religion Research Institute 2023 Map of American ValuesSimilarly, support for same-sex marriage and anti-LGBT discrimination among the general public also declined slightly.
Specifically, the PRRI report found that support for “laws protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace, public accommodations, and housing” rose from 80 percent in 2022 to 76 percent in 2023. Additionally, support for same-sex marriage slightly decreased from 69 percent in 2022 to 67 percent in 2023.
“Our polling shows that while support for LGBTQ rights has declined slightly from 2022 to 2023, a majority of Americans continue to support non-discrimination against LGBTQ Americans and the right to marry for same-sex couples,” PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman said in a statement.
“The widening partisan divide on these issues illustrates the impact of the continued use of LGBTQ identity and LGBTQ rights as divisive issues in our nation’s culture wars.”
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