Nearly two out of three small-business owners in Colorado don’t think proprietors have a right to refuse to trade with gay customers based on religious beliefs, according to a poll out Thursday by a left-leaning business organization.

The Small Business Majority, which commissions polls on small-business topics, said its research indicates 65 percent of Colorado small-business owners oppose denying goods or services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers. Fewer, however, 61 percent said thought such a standard should apply to wedding-related services for same-sex couples when the business owner has religious objections.

Bills have failed in the Colorado legislature in the last two session that would have allowed religion to override civil-rights laws in such circumstances. The next session begins Jan. 11.

The poll indicates 59 percent think such laws would be bad for the state’s business climate.

“The topic of religious freedom and how it relates to business practices has been front and center in the media lately. And as usual, small businesses are in the middle of the debate,” Tim Gaudette, the Small Business Majority’s outreach manager for Colorado, said in a statement. “As these results make clear, our state’s biggest job creators support policies that are fair and inclusive to all customers and employees.”

The poll was conducted by Republican polling firm Chesapeake Beach Consulting with a margin of error of just plus or minus a half-percent. The pollster contacted a representative sample of 400 owners of small businesses, defined as having 10 or fewer employees. Forty-four percent of those polled identified as Republican or right-leaning, 31 percent said they were Democrats or Democrat-leaning, 18 percent said they were unaffiliated and 8 percent chose some other affiliation.

“It’s clear that the majority of small business owners in Colorado agree that the way religious exemptions could undermine our nondiscrimination laws are vast, unpredictable, and would also threaten an important value we cherish as Coloradans-treating others as we want to be treated,” said Daniel Ramos, executive director of One Colorado, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group. “Providing commercial services doesn’t mean someone is endorsing anyone’s marriage, or agreeing with everything the customer believes. It simply means they are providing services to the public, and that they are open to business for everyone on the same terms.”