Poll: 53% say ending discrimination is more important, 38% say religious liberty is

Democrats see discrimination as the goal of those two states’ religious freedom legislation. 

There is one kind of group that most people would refuse to hire and refuse to serve: members of hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.  59% say owner should be able to refuse to hire them, and by 49% to 39%, the public thinks it’s fine for business owners to refuse to serve them. 

In contrast, there is almost no support for refusing to serve someone of a different race, or for refusing to hire someone of a different religion – even if the business owner has sincerely-help religious beliefs.  That is true for both the public overall and for those who say they are personally very religious.