CATHOLICS are bigger supporters of gay marriage than Protestants, according to new research.
Two-thirds of Catholics responding to the 2012 Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) Survey claimed they would support same-sex relationships, compared to less than half of Protestants.
The annual NILT Survey provides regular insight into the changing nature of society in the north.
Conducted by ARK, a team of researchers from Queen's University Belfast and University of Ulster, NILT quizzed a random sample of 1,200 people living across the north on attitudes to various social and economic matters including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
Researcher Dr Siobhan McAlister, from QUB's School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, noted how more Catholic respondents declared support for same-sex marriages than Protestants.
She said: "While the majority of those who presented as Catholic (66 per cent) or having no religion (74 per cent) supported same-sex marriage, less than half (45 per cent) of those defining as Protestant were in support of it."
The 2012 NILT survey also indicates that, while the north's tolerance towards homosexual relationships in general has increased dramatically compared to 25 years ago, some anti-gay prejudices still endure.
"Over half of the survey's respondents expressed support for same-sex marriage," said researcher Dr Nicola Carr.
"However, over one third disapproved of gay adoption and also to lesbians having access to fertility treatment on the same basis as heterosexual women.
"At least one in four people did not believe that a lesbian or gay parent or parents with a child constituted a 'family'."
The ARK team will be discussing their findings tomorrow at Queering the Family: Attitudes Towards Lesbian and Gay Relationships and Families in Northern Ireland.
This free public seminar is being held from 12pm to 1pm at the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action in Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.