Most Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the Mormon religion, and only a third consider them to be Christian

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Late last month the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often known as the Mormon church, made an historic pronouncement. The Church, which had played a critical role to pass a now defunct constitutional amendment in California to prohibit same-sex marriage, has now announced that it would support laws which would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in employment and housing. In return, however, the Church leadership is calling upon states to pass laws protecting people with sincerely held religious opinions from legal penalties for refusing to serve certain gay or lesbian customers.

YouGov's latest research shows that only 25% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Mormon denomination, while 51% have an unfavorable opinion. This is the second highest favorable rating of the six tested, with Roman Catholicism coming top with 47% favorability. Scientology has the lowest favorability, as only 6% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the denomination while 70% have an unfavorable opinion.

When asked whether they consider Mormons to be Christian, 35% of Americans say that they are while 36% say that they are not. Protestants (40%) are somewhat more likely than Catholics (33%) to say that Mormons are not Christians, but black Americans (52%) are the most likely to say that they are not while Republicans (44%) are the most likely to say that they are.

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Only 22% of Americans have heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' proposal to extend greater discrimination protection to gays and lesbians in return for increased protection for people who have deeply held religious beliefs. Most Americans (53%) support prohibiting job discrimination by employers against gays and lesbians, but most (60%) oppose a law that would allow businesses to refuse service to customers based on the owner's religious beliefs.

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Full poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.