States With More Catholics Are More Likely to Support Marriage Equality

A very extensive analysis of 15 years worth of polls on LGBT rights was recently released. It showed that though support for marriage equality and other LGBT rights has grown, policymakers lag behind in writing up legislation to reflect the public's massive shift in thinking.

Today, Mark Silk of Spiritual Politics culled his own interesting fact:

A new study by Columbia political scientists Jeffrey Lax and Justin Phillips (h/t Robbie Jones), forthcoming in the American Political Science Review, ranks states according to public support for same-sex marriage and civil unions. Putting the rankings together with the 2008 Trinity ARIS survey reveals that six of the eight states where 50 percent or more of the public supports gay marriage are the states with the highest proportion of Catholics, ranging from Rhode Island at 46 percent to New York and California at 37 percent. Meanwhile, the eight states most opposed to gay marriage include six of the seven with the lowest proportion of Catholics, from Alabama at six percent to North Carolina at nine percent.

Blogger Cathy Lynn Grossman at USA Today doesn't credit the bishops for the Catholic support. "The bishops have campaigned long, loudly and clearly against same-sex marriage but the Catholic Church also offers a pervasive message of social justice, an umbrella many liberal Catholics stand under when they argue for marriage equality or life issues such as abortion, contraception and end-of-life decisions."

This is a good reminder to us when we're out canvassing and talking to our friends and family about marriage equality. You can't automatically assume that because someone is religious, or in this case, Catholic, they're automatically against us. Each person is an individual and holds different opinions, some of which may contradict their own church's edicts.

You may actually have an ally in someone you may least expect. Remember that when you're knocking on doors or broaching the subject of LGBT rights - you may be pleasantly surprised.