Many Evangelicals Have Ambivalent Views on Homosexuality, Study

Many evangelicals have ambivalent views about rights of homosexuals, according to a new study. This is the first time that researchers have found people in the evangelical community to have moderate views about the gay/lesbian community, at least on political grounds.

The "messy middle" is a group of evangelicals who support rights of homosexuals on political grounds but not on moral grounds.

"As a moral issue, we predict that the opposition to gay civil rights will not have the same staying power as the abortion debate," said Brandon Martinez, a sociology researcher in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences and co-author of the study, according to a news release.  

The study was based on a group of 1,714 individuals from across the country. Researchers found that about 24 percent of this group supported gay civil union movement even though they opposed homosexuality on moral grounds. The survey was conducted by The Gallup Organization and included over 300 items dealing with religion, values and beliefs of people living in the U.S.

"We've known that moderate and ambivalent evangelicals are there, but now they are actually starting to have a voice and beginning to be more political," Martinez said.

The study will be presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Another poll had shown that about 59 percent of Americans find gay/ lesbian relationships to be morally acceptable, which is 19 points higher since 2001. Recently, Exodus International- a group that promoted the idea of "gay cure"- announced that it was closing down.