Public support for LGBTQ+ rights high, even as restrictions grow
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* Teddi Nicolaus

![Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/nathealth/53/4/9.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/53/4/9.2/F1)

A new report finds growing public support for LGBTQ+ rights in America.

Photo courtesy Riska, iStockphoto

Support for laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing is at an all-time high, according to a new report from the Public Religion Research Institute.

Reflecting a continued trend of acceptance, 80% of Americans now favor laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people against discrimination, up slightly from 79% in 2021 and 76% in 2020.

The findings come even as laws and measures that aim to restrict rights of LGBTQ+ people proliferate in states across the U.S. More than 470 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign. More than 190 of those bills would specifically restrict the rights of transgender people, representing the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year to date. Texas legislators have introduced more anti-LGBTQ+ measures than those in any other state.

In April, HRC condemned the lawmakers for their “unrelenting, misplaced and cruel focus” on limiting the lives of transgender residents.

“With every new ban that passes, the Texas Senate is cruelly and drastically limiting the freedoms of LGBTQ+ Texans,” Cathryn Oakley, HRC’s state legislative director, said in a news release. “Bills like gender-affirming care bans, drag show bans, sports bans and gender marker bans are driven by a small group of funders that do not reflect the opinions of the majority of Texans.”

The March report from the Public Religion Research Institute shares findings from the organization’s 2022 American Values Atlas, which surveyed LGBTQ+ attitudes among a random sample of nearly 23,000 U.S. adults.

According to the report, support for the protections against discrimination has climbed steadily over the past few years, increasing from 71% who favored nondiscrimination provisions in 2015 to nearly 80% in 2021. Moreover, while the majority of Americans support nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBTQ+ people, the percentage rises with their level of formal education. The survey found 73% of Americans with a high school diploma or less favor protections, compared with 86% of those with a college degree and 88% of those with postgraduate education.

Support for nondiscrimination protections also increased among members of most major religious groups. According to the report, 62% of white evangelical Protestants now favor laws that would protect against LGBTQ+ discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing. Additionally, 90% of Democrats, 82% of independents and 66% of Republicans favor nondiscrimination provisions for LGBTQ+ people.

Even among the five states with the lowest support for non-discrimination protections — Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota — more than two-thirds of survey respondents favor the protections.

Support for same-sex marriage also continues to grow across virtually all demographics and affiliations, the report said, “even within groups in which supporters are not the majority.” Nearly half of Republicans, or 49%, now support same-sex marriage protections, compared to 35% in 2014. Among Democrats, 83% now support same-sex marriage, up from 65% in 2014.

For more information, visit [www.prri.org](http://www.prri.org) and [www.hrc.org](http://www.hrc.org).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association