Survey Results Show Support For LGBTQ Access to Industry Services
National survey results show 64% of wedding professionals believe they should serve same-sex couples and that discriminatory practices are frowned upon.
Though the Supreme Court may have settled the question of marriage equality in 2015, it did not resolve the simmering debate about whether or not wedding professionals should be compelled to serve same-sex couples if they opposed same-sex marriage.With Masterpiece Cakeshop v. the Colorado Civil Rights Commission on the fall 2017 U.S. Supreme Court docket, MBKinsights engaged the opinions of SurveyMonkey Audience and wedding professionals, asking them to weigh in on the following question:Should businesses be allowed to refuse to serve same-sex couples?“It is important to recognize the new threshold of support revealed in this study; that is, a majority of Americans (60%), and a slightly higher majority of wedding professionals (64%), believe wedding-related businesses should not be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples,” says Kathryn Hamm, Publisher of GayWeddings and Education Expert for WeddingWire, the nation’s leading technology company serving the $200+ billion wedding, corporate, and social events industry.Of additional interest, is the trend revealed in this study by almost all respondents: discriminatory practices are frowned upon. Even those respondents who showed support for business autonomy (and the right to refuse service) felt compelled to add that businesses shouldn't discriminate against same-sex couples. To me, this is a positive sign that same-sex couples can expect even more support from the public and within the wedding industry than research reveals at first glance.
Business, lifestyle, and identity trends revealedThe online survey, conducted August 28 - Sept. 10, 2017, among a national sample of adults ages 18 and older (1,226) and social media recruitment of wedding industry professionals (197), revealed several trends.• 60% believe wedding professionals should be required to serve same-sex couples; only 26% support service refusal.• 64% of wedding professionals compared to the general population believe wedding professionals should serve same-sex couples.• LGBTQ-identified individuals (73%) are more likely than heterosexual peers (57%) to oppose same-sex wedding-related service refusal.• Led by New England (69%), the majority on both coasts oppose service refusal; central regions more closely split.• Millennials (66%) are more likely than other generational groups to oppose service refusal.• Majority of Caucasian (62%), Hispanic (58%), Black (54%) and Asian/Pacific-Islander-identified (55%) respondents oppose service refusal.• Those who do support service refusal are most likely to cite business autonomy (43%) or religious beliefs (33%) as reasons why.• A majority of those “unsure” about service refusal (60%) cite seeing “both sides of the issue” as reasons for their ambivalence. Many respondents who elaborated on their ambivalence of and support for service refusal added that they don’t support discrimination against same-sex couples.The willingness of wedding professionals to work with same-sex couples was well-represented by a 2016 survey by WeddingWire, which revealed that the vast majority of the industry—89% of its respondents—reported being “ready, willing and able” to serve same-sex couples, up 86% from the year prior.
The debate continuesThis question of what the wedding industry as a whole thinks about service refusal has been overlooked in favor of the stories of wedding professionals like Jack Phillips (of Masterpiece Cakeshop) and Barronelle Stutzman (of Arlene’s Flowers),” says Hamm. Though the question of where the freedom of religion or speech of one person ends and the civil rights of another begins is certainly an important one to be resolved and will have its day in court. . .But, the debate shouldn’t eclipse the fact that the vast majority of the wedding industry has been open and ready to serve same-sex couples for many years. WPM__Kathryn Hamm, MBKinsights/Made by Kathryn/WeddingWire/GayWeddings.com, Chevy Chase, D.C.
