44% of Americans Believe That Homosexual Activity Is A Sin

Jillian Bandes | October 22, 2010 1:11 PM

That's the latest statistic out of the Public Religion Research Institute, which conducted the survey in partnership with Religion News Service. Their headline for the survey is, "

Two-thirds see connections between messages coming from America's places of worship and higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth," which strikes me as a little over-dramatic. 33% of respondents said that religious authorities strongly contribute to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth, and 32% said those authorities contribute to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth "a little." If 44% Americans believe that homosexual activity is a sin in total, it's not very surprising that 65% think religious institutions reinforce that message.

The survey also doesn't say whether "negative views of gay and lesbian people" include disagreement over the morality of homosexuality in general. 40% of respondents thought religion greatly contributed to a negative view of homosexuality, and 32% thought it contributed a little. That's completely unsurprising, if "negative" means "doesn't approve of that lifestyle."