Most religious Americans support nondiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ+ people: survey

Most Americans support anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people — and that includes religious Americans.

Three-quarters (75 percent) of U.S. adults — including most people of faith — support nondiscrimination policies that protect LGBTQ+ Americans in housing, employment, and public accommodation, according to a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute. This is up four percentage points since the question was first asked in 2015, though support has declined from its peak of 80 percent in 2022.

Democrats are the most supportive with 89 percent in favor, followed by 78 percent of independents, and 62 percent of Republicans. Support has grown among Democrats and independents since 2015, but Republican support has remained stagnant.

“Support for LGBTQ rights, including marriage equality and non-discrimination protections, have largely stabilized after some modest declines last year, with strong majorities — including majorities of most people of faith — supporting such policies,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, said in a press release. “Americans are more divided on the rights of transgender Americans, however, largely polarized along partisan lines.”

While Americans are more divided on laws preventing youth from receiving gender-affirming care, the majority (49 percent) still oppose such bans, compared to 47 percent in favor. Democrats are much more likely to oppose such laws with 70 percent against, followed by 49 percent of independents and 30 percent of Republicans.

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This differs from a recent Pew Research Center survey that found over half (56 percent) of U.S. adults support legislation banning health care professionals from providing gender-affirming care to youth. While PRC's study was conducted more recently, it features a significantly smaller sample size of just 5,097 respondents, compared to PRRI's more than 22,000.

The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the World Medical Association, and the World Health Organization all agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based and medically necessary not just for adults, but minors as well.

Most Americans also oppose allowing small businesses to refuse service to LGBTQ+ people based on their religious beliefs. Democrats were the most likely to oppose with 83 percent against, compared with 56 percent of independents and 35 percent of Republicans. Opposition has grown among Democrats since 2015, remained steady among independents, and declined among Republicans.

Two-thirds of U.S. adults (67 percent) support marriage equality, a 13-percentage-point increase from 54 percent in 2014. Republicans are significantly less likely to support it with only 50 percent in favor, compared to 83 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of independents. However, Republican support has grown substantially from 35 percent in 2014.

Marriage equality is now supported by a majority in every state, with the highest support in Massachusetts (87 percent), Vermont (86 percent), and the District of Columbia (82 percent). The lowest support is in southern states, including Oklahoma (50 percent), West Virginia (51 percent), and Louisiana (52 percent).