New research indicates that a majority of Americans are in favour of gay marriage. The data show members of many religious groups are also supportive of the right to marry for LGBT people.

The statistics, from the Public Religion Research Institute, indicate that, "white mainline Protestants (63 percent), white Catholics (63 percent), Hispanic Catholics (62 percent), and Orthodox Christians (59 percent) all have majorities supporting same-sex marriage."

However, there are three groups which are clearly opposed to gay marriage. They are, "Mormons (37 percent favor, 55 percent oppose), white evangelical Protestants (31 percent favor, 61 percent oppose), and Jehovah's Witnesses (25 percent favor, 53 percent oppose).

The large survey of over 40,000 Americans, which was part of the bigger American Values Atlas, shows that over the whole population, 58 percent of Americans think it should be legal for same sex marriages to take place.

The research also looks into whether businesses should be allowed to refuse service to customers who are gay or lesbian, if that violates the business owner's religious faith.

On that question, 61 percent of Americans said they opposed allowing businesses the option to refuse service. However, there was one group which went against the trend. The report says, "White evangelical Protestants stand alone as the only group in which a majority does not oppose religiously based service refusals by small businesses (50 percent favor, 42 percent oppose).