29% of Republicans — almost three out of every ten — believe that school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay. 20% of Independents and 16% of Democrats agree, according to a vast new Pew Research Center Values Study. Overall, 21% of Americans still believe that school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay.
The Pew study also found that more than one in three white Evangelical Protestants believe school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay. 37% of white Evangelical Protestants, along with 17% of white mainline Protestants, and 15% of white Catholics all agreed.
Other demographic breakdowns:
24% of men and 19% of women believe that school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay.
30% of those 65 and older and 23% of those 50 – 64 believe that school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay.
27% of Hispanics, 24% of Blacks, and 20% of whites believe that school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay.
31% of those with a high school diploma or less believe that school boards should be able to fire teachers simply for being gay.
One the positive side, those numbers are about half of what they were a quarter-century ago.