LGBT communities and individuals have become the major topic of conversation not just in the US, but worldwide. The issue that is commonly discussed is whether small business owners actually oppose or support the LGBT discrimination – in other words, whether they feel entitled to refuse service to аn LGBT, individual.
To survey the opinions on the matter, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Center released a poll a few days ago. The results are more than clear: most small business owners not only do not agree with the LGBT discrimination but actually openly oppose it. The majority of small business owners strongly believes that they should not be able to refuse goods or deny service to an LGBT individual, based on their own religious beliefs. The majority also supports the idea of creating laws that should protect the LGBT community against such discrimination.
The survey was created in response to the heated debate, associated with the Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The results from the poll, however, suggest that small business owners strongly oppose the LGBT discrimination. Two-thirds of the polled individuals support the notion that they should not be able to refuse service to LGBT individuals or same-sex couples, and almost 60% of the respondents also opposed possible laws that would make it legal for businesses and associations to deny service to LGBT individuals, based on their own religious beliefs.
The respondents had a diverse religious and ideological background, with the majority – almost 50% being Republicans, 33% identifying themselves as democrats, and 19% as independent. Religious freedom and how it affects and should affect business practices is currently creating heated debates on a national and worldwide scale. Greenberg’s poll asked its respondents specifically about their opinion on refusing wedding services, such as making a cake, to same-sex couples. The results of the poll, however, demonstrated explicitly that the business owners don’t see a conflict between being able to express their religious beliefs and supporting LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination protections.
