Sydney, Australia - Catholics are among the least homophobic people in Australia, despite the church's leaders railing against gay rights, a new study has found.
The Australia Institute study, Mapping Homophobia in Australia, shows two-thirds of Baptists and evangelical Christians believe homosexuality to be immoral.
But Catholics, Anglicans and Uniting church members are the most tolerant, with only a third saying homosexuality is immoral.
Report co-author Dr Clive Hamilton said Catholic church views on homosexuality were among the highest profile in the country, with prominent leaders such as Cardinal George Pell active in debates over gay marriage and resisting calls to allow gay priests.
"However, it turns out that, among those who declare a religious affiliation, Catholics are the most tolerant in Australia," Dr Hamilton said.
"These counter-intuitive findings suggest that the Catholic Church has less doctrinal authority over its congregation than some other Christian and non-Christian churches."
Those of the 25,000 people surveyed who said they had no religion were the most tolerant on the issue, with only 19 per cent saying homosexuality was immoral.
The survey also found people in central and south-western Queensland and the regions surrounding Brisbane from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast, as well as western Tasmania, were the least tolerant of homosexuals in the country.
The least homophobic areas of Australia were central Melbourne and central Perth.
Older Australians were more homophobic than younger people and people with higher levels of education tended to be more tolerant than those less educated.
Dr Hamilton said overall 35 per cent of people aged over 14 years believed that homosexuality was immoral, with men more likely than women to be intolerant.
Those aged 14 to 17, especially boys, were much more inclined to hold anti-gay views than young and middle-aged adults.
Of male youths in the 14 to 17 age group 43 per cent consider homosexuality to be immoral compared with 23 per cent of young women.
Dr Williams said the figures were worrying when the effect of homophobia on the estimated five to 10 per cent of young people who were attracted to the same sex was considered.
"It has been estimated that they are six times more likely to attempt suicide than the population as a whole," Dr Hamilton said.
"Homophobic attitudes and behaviours have been shown to be prevalent in schools, putting same-sex attracted youth at risk of discrimination, victimisation and violence."