Republicans Are Winning Their War on LGBTQ Rights

Americans’ perception of LGBTQ people is backsliding, in a sign that the Republican Party’s dogged campaign to ostracize queer people is working.

Only 64 percent of Americans think same-sex relationships are “morally acceptable,” the research firm Gallup revealed Friday, down from 71 percent this time last year. Gallup conducts an annual Values and Beliefs poll every May.

The biggest driver for that drop is a changing perspective among Republicans. In 2022, 56 percent of Republicans viewed same-sex relationships as morally acceptable. But this year, only 41 percent do.

The Gallup poll also found that more people view transitioning from one gender to another as “morally wrong”—although support among adult Americans has always been low. In May 2021, 46 percent of adults thought changing gender was “morally acceptable,” while 51 percent opposed it. But in 2023, only 43 percent of people say transitioning is morally acceptable, while 55 percent consider it wrong.

Support is even worse for transgender athletes playing on the team that matches their gender identity. In 2021, 34 percent of adults said trans athletes should be able to play on a team that matches their gender. This year, only 26 percent of people support that.

These views again fall mainly along party lines, with changing Republican sentiment one of the biggest drivers for the backslide. People are more likely to support trans rights if they know a trans person, but overall support has still dipped.

It’s no wonder people’s perception has changed. Republicans across the country have passed law after law criminalizing key aspects of LGBTQ identity and well-being. Republican-led state legislatures have banned drag performances, gender-affirming care for minors and adults, and trans girls from playing girls’ sports.

Republicans have cruelly and steadily painted a portrait of LGBTQ people as predators, as villains, and as aberrations. Unfortunately some Americans are listening.