WASHINGTON - Muslims are perceived by Americans as one of the most discriminated-against groups in the United States, with only homosexuals facing more discrimination than they do, a poll showed Thursday.
Nearly six in 10 Americans told pollsters from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that they thought Muslims were far more likely to face discrimination than members of other major religions.
An equal percentage said there was not a lot of discrimination against Jews, atheists, Mormons and evangelical Christians in the United States.
Indeed, the only group that Americans perceive as facing more discrimination than Muslims is homosexuals.
Nearly two-thirds -- 64 percent -- of more than 4,000 adults polled last month for the survey said gays and lesbians face a great deal of discrimination, compared with 58 percent who said Muslims did.
Just over half -- 52 percent -- said Hispanics were discriminated against, 49 percent said the same of blacks, and 37 percent said there is a lot of discrimination against women in the United States.
Nearly half of Americans -- 45 percent -- said Muslims are no more likely than followers of other faiths to encourage violence, but the percentage grew the more conservative the respondents were.
Among conservative Republicans, 55 percent said Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence.
Just under half of Americans said they know a Muslim, a figure unchanged from 2007 and slightly higher than the 38 percent who said they did in late 2001, just months after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
University graduates were more than twice as likely to know a Muslim -- 66 percent said they did -- than those who have not attended college (29 percent). Younger Americans were also more likely to count Muslims among their acquaintances than Americans over the age of 65. Around half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 said they knew a Muslim, while among American seniors, the ratio fell to just three in 10.
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