Public Religion Research Institute released a study that shows support for LGBTQ rights is down over the last year. The survey is based on more than 22,000 interviews of people across all 50 states.

Key findings:

  • Support for non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans has dropped four points in the past year, from 80 percent in 2022 to 76 percent in 2023. As of 2023, more than three-quarters of Americans support policies that protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation; this represents a decline from a high of 80 percent in 2022.
  • Opposition to allowing religiously based service refusals has dropped five points in the past year, from 65 percent of Americans in 2022 to 60 percent in 2023. A majority of independents (59 percent) and more than eight in ten Democrats (82 percent) oppose allowing small business owners to refuse service to LGBTQ people based on their religious beliefs.
  • Support for same-sex marriage has declined among Americans in the last year, dropping from 69 percent to 67 percent. Two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) support allowing same-sex couples to marry legally, an increase of 13 percentage points from 2014, when 54 percent supported same-sex marriage, but a decrease since 2022, when 69 percent of Americans supported same-sex marriage.
  • LGBTQ rights drive voting decisions of Democrats more than Republicans, younger Americans more than older Americans. When asked how LGBTQ rights affects their voting, a plurality of Americans (38 percent) say this is one of many important factors they consider, 30 percent say they would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on this issue, and 29 percent say they do not see LGBTQ rights as a major issue.
  • Christian nationalism rejecters are more likely to support LGBTQ rights than Christian nationalism skeptics, sympathizers or adherents. PRRI’s Christian nationalism scale classifies Americans into four categories based on their responses to five statements about the perceived relationship between Christianity, American identity and the U.S. government.

You can find the full survey here.

— David Taffet