A Historic Number of Americans Support LGBTQ+ Protections, Even Republicans

According to a new poll, 76% of respondents are in favor of LGBTQ+ inclusive nondiscrimination laws, a record high.
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A historic number of Americans support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, according to a new survey.

On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released results of a poll finding that more than three in four respondents (76%) support laws protecting queer and trans people in areas like employment and health care. That’s a 4% jump in approval from 2019, when only 72% said LGBTQ+ Americans should be shielded from discrimination on the basis of their identities.

The current study, which surveyed over 10,000 U.S. adults, shows that fewer than one in five respondents (19%) oppose LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination laws like the Equality Act. The landmark bill would protect LGBTQ+ people in virtually all areas of public life, including public accommodations, health care federal funding, credit, jury duty, and retail settings.

Despite recent attempts by conservative lawmakers to target trans youth by stripping them of gender-affirming care or the right to play school sports, inclusive nondiscrimination laws were widely popular across political parties. In addition to 85% of Democrats and 79% of Independents, a majority of Republican voters (62%) support nondiscrimination protections, along with 7 in 10 or more Republicans (70%) under the age of 50.

This widespread support was constant across nearly all demographics. An estimated 77% of urban and suburban respondents expressed support for nondiscrimination laws, along with 70% of rural voters. All age groups joined them in backing LGBTQ+ rights: 83% of those 18 to 29, 81% of people aged 30 to 49, and 72% of the 50-65 crowd.

People of color likewise supported the act in high numbers. Around 81% multiracial Americans supported LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections, as did 79% of Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI), 77% of Latinx, 75% of Black, and 64% of Indigenous respondents. Of white individuals surveyed, 76% were in favor of protections for the LGBTQ+ community.

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Democrats need 60 votes to ensure the landmark LGBTQ+ rights bill is filibuster proof. They may not get them.

Even the group that has been historically the least likely to support LGBTQ+ rights, white evangelical protestants, also skewed in favor of civil rights protections for queer and transgender people Americans. Approximately 62% said they are in favor of nondiscrimination protections like those in the Equality Act, while just 32% opposed them.

The poll’s timing is significant. The Equality Act passed the U.S. House in February and received a hearing in the Senate last week for the first time in its history. But as them. previously reported, the legislation’s future is in jeopardy after Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, considered the most likely conservatives to back the bill, came out against it. According to the Washington Blade, Collins is calling for “additional leeway for religious institutions to turn away LGBTQ people.”

Even as the fate of the Equality Act is unclear in a Senate evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, the narrowing gap between Americans of various political affiliations, religions, and backgrounds on LGBTQ+ rights paints a portrait of a country potentially ready to move toward progress.

“The data is clear: the vast majority of Americans support LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections no matter where they live, the party they belong to, or the church they belong to,” PRRI research director Natalie Jackson said in a statement.

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