Abstract
While a large body of research has established that there is substantial prejudice against atheists and nonreligious individuals, both in the US and in other countries where nonreligious people are minorities, to date very little research has looked beyond attitudes toward solitary identities (e.g., “atheists” vs. “gay atheists”). Given the growing recognition of the importance of intersectionality in understanding the experiences of minorities, in this article we examined attitudes toward intersected identities, combining five (non)religious identities (i.e., Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, and nonreligious) with four sexual/gender identities (i.e., heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender) using a 100-point thermometer scale (N = 618). We found that sexual/gender identities were more influential in ordering the results than were religious identities, with heterosexual individuals being rated most positively, followed for the most part by: homosexual, bisexual, and then transgender individuals. However, within the sexual/gender identities, (non)religion ordered the results; Christians and Jewish individuals rated most highly among heterosexuals while nonreligious and atheist individuals rated most highly among transgender individuals. We suggest these results indicate that people believe minority sexual/gender identities “taint” or “pollute” religious identities, unless those religious identities are already perceived as tainted, as is the case for atheists and the nonreligious.