Researchers, in conjunction with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, released a report today that said that people who voted against gay marriage in California had four things in common:

1. They attended religious services weekly

2. They were Republicans

3. They were conservatives

4. They were born before World War II

It is these factors, rather than race or gender, that made the difference – the researchers say that no more than 58 percent of African-Americans voted yes on Prop 8, putting them in line with all other ethnic groups.

We’ll have a news story on this with more details later (and a link to the report), but I thought this was important, and that we should get something up about it quickly.

There was a long conversation on the call about what the next steps might be. One interesting discovery – the vote wasn’t influenced by whether someone knew a gay person. One researcher made the point that opposition to gay marriage isn’t personal – it’s partsian. If you’re Republican, religious, conservative, you will be against it, no matter how many gay people you wave to at the grocery store.

Nevertheless, folks at the Task Force thinks that LGBT Christians should try outreach in their own churches. They say that substantial conversations may have an impact. And they say we need to make stronger, better, more frequent arguments to religious leaders about how it is a moral good to support all families, not just straight ones.

Your thoughts?