A new study from PRRI, conducted by Daniel Greenberg, Emma Beyer, Maxine Majle, PhD, Oyindamola Bola, and Robert P. Jones, PhD, found that across the country, no matter party or demographic, the majority of Americans support nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.
A majority of every state supports laws that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace and housing, ranging from 56 percent in Arkansas to 81 percent in New Hampshire. 65 percent of Georgians support this kind of legislature, slightly lower than the national average of 69 percent. Western states showed the highest levels of support, while southern states showed the lowest.
A majority of both younger and older Americans support anti-discrimination laws, but those ages 18 to 29 were much more likely to support them than those 65 and older (76 percent compared to 59 percent).
Support can be seen in the majority of all parties, with more support being seen in liberals and Democrats than moderates, conservatives, Independents, and Republicans. 79 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of Independents, and 56 percent of Republicans support nondiscrimination protections. While the support from Democrats and Independents has remained pretty constant over the years, support among Republicans has fallen, down from 61 percent in 2015.
81 percent of those who identified as liberal supported LGBT discrimination protections, compared to 76 percent of moderates and 55 percent of conservatives. However, among the Republican party, those who identified as moderate Republicans were the most likely to favor anti-discrimination laws (69 percent) compared to liberal (59 percent) and conservative (53 percent) Republicans.
A majority of all major religious groups in the U.S. also support these laws, with the lowest majority being among Jehovah’s Witnesses (53 percent) and evangelical Protestants (54 percent) and the highest among New Age religions (86 percent) and Jews (80 percent).
Currently, 21 states have employment protections in place against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.