Poll: 51% of Americans Say Business Owners Should Serve Same-Sex Couples, but 59% Say Wedding Businesses Should Be Allowed to Decline

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A recent AP/GfK poll finds a slim majority (51%) of Americans say businesses with religious objections should be required to serve same-sex couples. Forty-six percent (46%) say these business owners should be allowed to refuse service. However, for business owners specifically offering wedding-related services, Americans say these particular businesses “should be allowed to refuse service” by a margin of 59% to 39%.

Taken together, these polls suggest that a sizeable share of Americans think the state should not prohibit same-sex couples from getting married and that the state should not require wedding-related business owners with religious objections to provide services against their will.

These results correspond with the nuanced libertarian argument for both religious freedom AND same-sex marriage.

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Whatever Happened to Religious Freedom?

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Gay marriage was a win for liberty, but when cake bakers and others are fined for adhering to their beliefs about same-sex marriage, a new kind of discrimination is upon us.

In the Wall Street Journal, Cato’s Vice President for Legal Affairs Roger Pilon discusses recent situations that have forced private individuals and organizations into associations they found offensive.

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