{"id":15527,"date":"2013-08-20T00:01:14","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T05:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/half-of-americans-say-sexual-orientation-cannot-be-changed\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:30:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:30:13","slug":"half-of-americans-say-sexual-orientation-cannot-be-changed","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/08\/20\/half-of-americans-say-sexual-orientation-cannot-be-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of Americans say sexual orientation cannot be changed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Jersey has become the second state, after California, to ban \u201cconversion therapy,\u201d which seeks to change the sexual orientation of gay minors. Republican Gov. Chris Christie <a href=\"http:\/\/nj.gov\/governor\/news\/news\/552013\/approved\/20130819a.html\">signed the bill into law<\/a> on Monday after it passed both houses of the state legislature in June.<\/p>\n\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2012\/07\/31\/two-thirds-of-democrats-now-support-gay-marriage-long-term-views-gay-marriage-adoption\/#views-homosexuality\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2012\/07\/rp-gay-17.png\" width=\"293\" height=\"286\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2012 <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2012\/07\/31\/two-thirds-of-democrats-now-support-gay-marriage-long-term-views-gay-marriage-adoption\/#views-homosexuality\">Pew Research Center survey<\/a> found that roughly half of Americans (51%) say that a gay or lesbian person\u2019s sexual orientation cannot be changed, while 36% say it can be changed. In 2003, opinion on this question was divided, with 42% saying one\u2019s sexual orientation can be changed and an equal share (42%) saying it cannot.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christie, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/08\/18\/nyregion\/christies-re-election-engine-gets-in-gear-for-a-bigger-race.html?pagewanted=all\">who is reported to be considering a presidential run in 2016<\/a>, has said that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QVNUszOgvlI&amp;feature=youtu.be\">he believes people are born gay<\/a> and that homosexuality is not a sin. A 2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/06\/06\/section-2-views-of-gay-men-and-lesbians-roots-of-homosexuality-personal-contact-with-gays\/\">Pew Research survey<\/a> shows that public opinion is still divided on these questions.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About four-in-ten (41%) Americans say that \u201cpeople are born gay or lesbian,\u201d while 42% say homosexuality is \u201cjust the way some people choose to live\u201d and 8% say being gay or lesbian is \u201ca result of a person\u2019s upbringing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, 45% of Americans say homosexual behavior is not a sin and 45% say it is a sin. Among U.S. Catholics, a group that includes Gov. Christie, 53% say homosexual behavior is not a sin while 33% say it is a sin.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While half of Americans say that a gay or lesbian person\u2019s sexual orientation cannot be changed, 36% say it can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[218],"bylines":[854],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-15527","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-lgbtq-attitudes-experiences","bylines-michael-lipka","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short 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