BY AJ TRAGER
Landon Schnabel is a Ph.D. candiate at Indiana University. He presented his talk on the comparison of refusal of services to interracial couples versus same-sex couples. Results from his study show that the refusal of services has very little to do with religious freedom. BTL Photo: AJ Trager
YPSILANTI – An Oct. 26 presentation at the Equality Research Center at Eastern Michigan University showcased a study that asked Americans where they stand on the refusal of services to same-sex couples and interracial couples, and the results were shocking.
"Americans' Views on Refusal of Service to Same-Sex Couples and Interracial Couples," was presented by Landon Schnabel, a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University. In his talk at the Student Center located on the EMU campus, Schnabel revealed that a surprisingly large amount of Americans are in favor of refusing services to same-sex couples.
His study surveyed 2,000 people who were asked four questions based on a short story. Participants, who ranged in age from 18 to 92, were separated into two categories. Each participant read a story showcasing the denial of services by a wedding photographer to a couple, except half of those polled were given the example of an interracial couple while the other half read about a same-sex couple.
Schnabel's findings suggest that Americans are more likely to support refusal to a gay couple than an interracial couple and Americans are more likely to support an individual refusing services than a corporation refusing services.
"That is something we all expected and it was the case," Schnabel said after he revealed the difference between the support of an individual and corporate refusal of services. "But, and this was surprising, Americans are just as likely to support refusal to a same-sex couple for non-religious as for religious reasons. Regardless of whether it was a religious reason or not, a lot of people seem to think it is OK for a business who doesn't agree with them to deny services."
This finding was surprising to Schnabel and his coauthors who assumed religious reasons would be the catalyst in when and how strongly someone felt it was OK to refuse services to a same-sex couple. However, results from the study showed that it was personal bias above all other factors that contributed to one's personal beliefs on whether or not a couple can be refused services.
"People's own personal beliefs are shaping whether they think it is OK or not to refuse services. Religion doesn't seem to be an important factor in these situations, it is more the person's own religion or their own beliefs, not the situation itself," Schnabel explained. "If you're highly religious or against same-sex marriage you are going to say it is OK to refuse services regardless of whether or not it was for religious reasons."
To back up their responses to why they did or didn't believe the denial of services was OK, many respondents who stated they were in support of denial of services to same-sex couples used a Libertarian or free market justification for refusal or discussed their own personal beliefs, Schnabel said.
"They most commonly emphasized that businesses have the right to choose their customers and that businesses should be run as their owners see fit," Schnabel said.
Those that said they were against marriage rights and supported the refusal of services also used Libertarian arguments but instead of referencing a free market approach, they instead said business should have the freedom to not serve people they disagree with.
The study looked at how race, gender, age and political leaning affect personal beliefs on this topic. Schnabel and his coauthors found that when it comes to those with Republican leanings, 90 percent say it is OK to refuse services to gay couples for religious reasons, 80 percent say it is OK for an interracial couple to be refused services and 60 percent say it is OK for a corporation to refuse services for a same-sex couple. Those with liberal or Democratic political leanings were in the 80th percentile for the support of providing services to all people.
Even though they are less likely to support same-sex marriage, black Americans reported that they do not support corporations refusing services to same-sex couples.
Surprisingly, education did not make much of a difference on whether or not the pollee agreed with refusing to provide services.
"You would think that people who have been to college would be less likely to be OK with a refusal of services. It doesn't really change anything," Schnabel said.
People that attend religious services weekly were found to be more likely to support the refusal of services, but religion did not specifically make a big difference. Schnabel and his team cross polled those that attend religious services weekly, sometimes and never. Self-identified Evangelicals were in high support of the refusal of services but not as high as Republicans.
"Public support for business service refusal to gay couples has little to do with claims for religious freedom. That's how this is being debated in the courts. People are saying that 'it is religious freedom, I should be able to refuse services.' But it doesn't seem to be that that is the key factor driving things here. And me and my coauthors think that the courts need to be talking about this and not about religious freedom," Schnabel said in conclusion. "These people are just as likely to refuse services for non-religious reasons as they are for religious reasons. Without religious freedom as the justification, what is going to be the justification? People that think it is OK to refuse services are going to need to come up with a compelling reason besides religion for why it is OK to refuse services to same-sex couples."
