Gays, Muslims 'most discriminated against'

11 Sep 2009, 9:44 am   -   Source: AFP/SBS
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Muslims and gays are the most discriminated-against minorities in the US, a new poll has revealed.

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Muslims and gays are the most discriminated-against minorities in the US, a new poll has revealed.

Nearly six in 10 Americans told pollsters from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life they thought Muslims were far more likely to face discrimination than members of other major religions.

An equal percentage said there was not a lot of discrimination against Jews, atheists, Mormons and evangelical Christians in the United States.

Indeed, the only group that Americans perceive as facing more discrimination than Muslims is homosexuals.

Nearly two-thirds - 64 per cent - of more than 4,000 adults polled last month for the survey said gays and lesbians face a great deal of discrimination, compared with 58 per cent who said Muslims did.

Just over half - 52 per cent - said Hispanics were discriminated against, 49 per cent said the same of blacks, and 37 per cent said there was a lot of discrimination against women in the United States.

Sex discrimination, racism

Nearly half of Americans - 45 per cent - said Muslims were no more likely than followers of other faiths to encourage violence, but the percentage grew the more conservative the respondents were. 

Among conservative Republicans, 55 per cent said Islam was more likely than other faiths to encourage violence.

Just under half of Americans said they know a Muslim, a figure unchanged from 2007 and slightly higher than the 38 per cent who said they did in late 2001, just months after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

University graduates were more than twice as likely to know a Muslim - 66 per cent said they did - than those who have not attended college (29 per cent).   

Younger Americans were also more likely to count Muslims among their acquaintances than Americans over the age of 65.

Around half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 said they knew a Muslim, while among American seniors, the ratio fell to just three in 10.


 

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Your Comments

Let's change

A peaceful friendly muslim - from Brisbane, 3 years ago

I am a muslim and I am really sad to see discrimination. because I love the world, I call for a change. Let's love each other and let's live together in peace. Muslims like any nation or any people who have faiths. we have good people and bad people who pretend they are muslims.

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