A recent studied showed that Catholics are more supportive of gay and lesbian rights than the general public and other Christians.

The study conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, a non-profit organization that researches religion, values and public life, found that Catholics are more supportive on a variety of issues, including gay marriage and allowing gay couples to adopt and serve openly in the military.

The report, which is based off original analysis of existing data from PRRI and other sources, said 43 percent of Catholics are in favor of same-sex marriage.

Robert Jones, CEO of the PRRI said in a press release that this information may come as a surprise.

Michelle Dillon, chair of the sociology department at University of New Hampshire, said in a press release from PRRI that evidence of Catholic support shows “the growing acceptance in American culture of the normalcy or same-sex relationships, and further showcases ordinary Catholics’ dissent from official church teaching on sexual morality.”

The study also showed that less than 4-in-10 Catholics give their church’s high grades for handling the issue of homosexuality and that 7-in-10 Catholics say that messages from America’s places of worship contribute to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth.

Maggi Cage, executive director of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, said this study points to the fact that Catholics are more interested in equality than the public thinks.

Cage, who grew up Catholic, said that what she was taught in the Catholic faith was equality and fairness, and this really shows in the survey.

Katie Belanger, the executive director of Fair Wisconsin, a LGBT advocacy group, said the group has been collaborating with other communities to continue working towards LGBT rights.

She said Catholic support is definitely a good thing.

“The study signals our state and country are moving in the right direction,” Belanger said.

Over the years, Fair Wisconsin has been working with Marquette and participating in dialogue with staff, students and administrators about strengthening the inclusiveness of LGBT community on campus.

Belanger said she was very happy with the progress that has been made at Marquette, including the recent giving of benefits to faculty in domestic partnerships.

Steve Blaha, assistant director of Campus Ministry, said the study fails to give us enough information to really see how Catholic views have changed.

“Additional informational we need is what percent of Catholics know someone who are LGBT, what influences their faith life, and what extent is this being informed by Catholic social teachings,” he said.

Blaha said it would be interesting to do survey on campus and see how people respond.

One thing he found interesting in the study was that information on homosexuality is significantly less likely to come from clergy in the church, and if it does, it’s negative info.

“There is not often enough talk about homosexuality in the church, and when we do talk about it, it is condemnation of same sex marriage,” he said.

Blaha said Campus Ministry does work to talk about homosexuality to help display the full, well-rounded teaching of the church.

Belanger hopes people will see from this study that “there is the ability for both LGBT community and faith based communities to work together and build a stronger communities and stronger states.”