The reliable wedge issues of same-sex marriage and LGBT protections are being edged out for Republicans this election, according to a new study.

Not only do Americans support gay marriage and job protections for LGBT people, but they reject so-called bathroom bills barring transgender individuals from using the restroom of their choice and religious freedom laws allowing business owners to deny services to certain people if providing that service would violate their faith.

The findings of the extensive survey by PRRI – a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that's also been known as the Public Religion Research Institute – indicate that the already-struggling GOP will not be able to rely on a certain percentage of the electorate being uncomfortable with what they see as special rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals.

Not only is public opinion turning toward an LGBT-inclusive position, but voters are more likely to punish someone who opposes same-sex marriage. The polling showed that a plurality (44 percent) of Americans would definitely not vote for someone opposed to gay marriage, while just 20 percent said they definitely would vote for such a contender.

"It is fast becoming a liability for candidates," says Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI. Voters historically have ranked social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage at the bottom of their list of priorities, behind things like the economy, health care and terrorism, Jones says. On the Republican side, however, such matters have served as symbolic issues, and ones that have energized an important part of the base, he adds.

That's now looking to be less the case, he says.

"What this poll shows is that even among Republicans, these issues are really losing their power as culture war wedge issues," Jones says.

The polling found that 53 percent of Americans oppose so-called bathroom bills forcing transgender people to use the public restroom corresponding with their birth gender, while just 35 percent favor such laws. Jones says the views are fairly consistent geographically.

Socially conservative groups have supported restricting bathroom use, arguing that gender identity is not the same as a characteristic like race that is protected by civil rights laws. Rules allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice also increase government interference in the free market and could lead to costly lawsuits, a Family Research Council policy paper argues.

A CBS News/New York Times poll in May also showed less support for the cause of open bathrooms, with 46 percent of Americans saying they think transgender people should use the restroom assigned to their birth sex, and 41 percent thinking they should be able to use the facility that corresponds with their gender identity.

The issue undoubtedly has become the new frontier in LGBT rights and has implications for the fall elections. The Obama administration, citing Title IX rules banning discrimination, this year issued a directive requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. That directive was recently blocked by a federal judge.

In March, North Carolina enacted a law requiring people to use the public bathroom designated for their birth gender. That has caused a social and commercial backlash: The NBA already has moved its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte to protest the law, while anger over the measure could affect some political fortunes in the Tar Heel State.

GOP Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed the law, is in a tight re-election race against Democrat Roy Cooper, the state's attorney general. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is slightly ahead of the GOP's Donald Trump in the re-emergent presidential battleground state. And incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr now faces a tough fight against Democrat Deborah Ross. While the transgender bathroom matter is not a defining issue in the races, LGBT activists hope it will increase turnout among Democrats enough to make a difference in all three.

By a more than 2-to-1 margin (63 percent to 30 percent), Americans also oppose "religious freedom" laws allowing small businesses to deny sales or services (such as wedding cakes to same-sex couples) if the transaction would violate the businessperson's religious beliefs.

The PRRI survey also found broad support for laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination in jobs and housing. A full 72 percent of Americans – including about 62 percent of Republicans – support such rules, while just 23 percent oppose them. However, the survey found that the vast majority of Americans – 80 percent – incorrectly believe there is a federal law banning such workplace discrimination.

Congress has failed to approve the Equality Act, which would provide relevant protections. State and local laws and ordinances also are spotty, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBT rights group, with more than 3 out of 5 Americans living in jurisdictions without anti-discrimination laws.

"This poll proves what we know to be true. Americans believe that it's long past time for LGBTQ people to live free from fear of discrimination and have protections under the law," HRC spokesman Jay Brown said of the PRRI study. "Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Pat McCrory and other anti-equality politicians should take note. Their anti-LGBTQ platforms aren't just wrong but a recipe for electoral disaster."

But while the poll showed broad support for LGBT rights, the survey revealed drastically different views on discrimination faced by LGBT people, African-Americans and immigrants. Nearly 8 out of 10 Democrats believe African-Americans face a lot of discrimination, a view held by just 32 percent of Republicans. Three-fourths of Democrats think gay and lesbian people face significant discrimination, and 80 percent think immigrants do. Among Republicans, those numbers are 42 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

Those numbers reflect the tone of the presidential campaign, which has been dominated by talk of immigrants, potential threats from Muslims, and deep racial and ethnic gaps in support for the two candidates. Echoing other polls, the PRRI survey showed Trump, as is typical of GOP presidential candidates, leads Clinton among white voters with 44 percent to 39 percent support.

But Trump trails badly among African-American and Latino voters: Clinton captures 85 percent of African-American voters in the poll, compared with a paltry 4 percent for Trump. Among Hispanics, Clinton takes 67 percent of the vote against just 18 percent for Trump.

Trump recently has sought to reach out to those two minority groups, with questionable results. He's seemingly indicated a willingness to walk back his proposal to forcibly eject millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally, saying his initial focus would be to expel "the bad ones."

He also has appealed to African-Americans, whom he cast as poor and unemployed while asking Friday in Michigan: "What the hell do you have to lose?"

Overall, Trump trails Clinton 35 percent to 48 percent in the poll, representing a slightly wider margin than Clinton's lead in other national polls. Among religious groups, Trump does best with white Protestants, garnering 62 percent support to Clinton's 23 percent among white evangelical Protestant voters and 47 percent support to her 37 percent among mainline white Protestant voters. He is weaker among white Catholic voters, with 44 percent favoring Clinton and 41 percent preferring Trump.