Businesses With Anti-Gay Policies Divide Americans: Poll

Recently, an Oregon bakery caused an uproar when its owners refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian bride, saying that doing so would violate their religious beliefs. Yet since then, the bakery has said, business is booming. One reason for that booming business may be that Americans are deeply divided over whether they would shop somewhere that discriminates against gay customers and over whether it's acceptable for business owners to refuse service to gay customers on religious grounds. According to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, 45 percent of Americans said it was unacceptable for businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians, even if serving the customer violated the owner's religious beliefs. But almost as many Americans -- 40 percent -- said that it was acceptable.