I think it is important to remember that the Bible does not condone homosexuality when looking at the data. Thus, even if some Christians didn't mind interacting with homosexuals in everday life, some might find it hard to say they found the behavior/lifestyle/whatever you want to call it morally acceptable.

Also, this was a phone survey, so something tells me that the actual acceptance is a bit lower than the posted one.

"Driving" acceptance? I'd suggest "finally dragging their feet toward".

I knew it would happen in time. The young people don't really care.

Interesting variable: there are not one but two subjective components of the question posed to respondents.

One is, "what are gay/lesbian relations?" The range of ideas that people have about what homosexuality is, and what unique behaviors it's associated with, is on the whole a lot closer to reality in this decade than it was in prior ones. However, it does seem hard to imagine that so many people's fundamental understanding of homosexuality changes so steeply in any given 5-year period.

The other component - and perhaps the one that warrants more discussion - is "what constitutes unacceptable sexual relations?" To get at that one, I think a study would have to look much further outside of sexual orientation to spot the trends. A lot of behaviors that were once more disproportionately associated with homosexuality - including open or polyamorous relationships, kinky/non-vaginal intercourse, no-strings-attached hookups - have rapidly become more visible and less transgressive in the mainstream imagination. Just an idle hypothesis, but I'd guess that the wider parameters of sexual morality have shifted more decisively than most people's personal judgment of homosexuality, and that one side effect of this shift is what at least appears to be greater tolerance.

If anyone has a link to a study examining attitudes toward a wider and more heavily specified range of sexual behaviors and desires, it would be very interesting to compare!

I am interested in people's input on this.

I find the the result for the "other non-Christians" problematic. The category lumps together different groups when mentally computing them I don't see how it can be so accepting of gays.

The ARIS 2008 can helps us find out more about who is inside that category of "non-christians religious".

Jewish 1.2%
Eastern religion 0.9% (including 0.5% buddhist)
Muslim 0.6%
NRM+others 1.2%

These data need of course to be used carefully as the ARIS is a survey specifically about religion and religious practice and the Gallup data on gay acceptance probably come from a larger set of question not specifically about religion and that would most likely have an impact on how people answer the religion question.

Ethnic jews as a whole are socially liberal but there is a double dynamic within the community. On one hand religious practice is diminishing but those who practice are becoming more orthodox and less likely to accept homosexuality. I think some ethnic jews would also declare no religion or NRM affiliation and those would probably be the noes most accepting of gays. So for religious jews as a whole the percentage would be high but nor uber high.

For the hindus, I don't see the group as a whole as particularly accepting of gays. Mostly because it is a group stemming from relatively recent migration and that those tend to be more conservative. There is also a documented rise in hindu centric inidan nationalism within the indian diaspora that I don't see as very condusive to gay acceptance.

The different segments of US Muslims are also all solidly socially conservative. That is true for black Muslims as well as middle-eastern and Asian muslims. This is not a stereotype, I am versed into that literature.

That means that NRM affiliated people would have to be 125% accepting of gays to be able to reach that 80%+ acceptance of gays in the "Non-christian religious" category.

Anybody has some insight on this?

I'm always astonished how much religion plays in to American politics. You can feel free to think I'm going to hell, but religious views should not be used to withold rights and freedoms.

Great to see men catching up with women's accepance of homosexuality. As a young male Christian, I can attest that acceptance of homosexuality is pretty high these days amongst male and friend young adults. Likewise, bisexual identity is skyrocketing among young people, male and female. Polls show that both the well-educated and young are very accepting of homosexuality, and gay rights is seen as the cause of my generation. People who are against homosexuality are largely viewed as ignorant, primitive, or bigoted amongst my generation, especially those of us who are well-educated. Well-educated and young people are very cool with homosexuality for the large part, which bodes well for the future.
Also, the increase of acceptance in mainline and liberal churches and synagogues is making a difference. The fact that Lutherans, Episcopalians, many Presbyterians, United Church of Christ, and Reform synagogues bless gay marriages is a powerful influence on society that homosexuality is not only normal, but also good. Times are a changin.

I have a problem lumping 18 year old girls and 49 year old women in the same group of voters. The younger generations seem to be more accepting, leading me to think that if there were two groups - Ages 18-33 and 34-49 - there would be more positive data. I don't know a lot of 18 year olds who feel the same way as 49 year olds....

"Religious non-Christians and the non-religious, however, kick everybody’s asses with 84% and 85% of them saying that gay and lesbian relations are “morally acceptable.”"

"kick everybody's asses" is a major judgment call. If it's a judgment call everyone on this site is fine with making, so be it. But it's still a judgment call that says that one view (thinking homosexuality is morally acceptable) is the best view, and those who believe it are the victors.

these people to me are very sick and need professional help. i sure as hell do not except it.