Americans show less acceptance of LGBT people, survey says
For the first time in four years, Americans are less accepting of LGBT people, a survey found — a setback activists said is stunning but not unexpected after a turbulent 2017.
Less than half of non-LGBT adults — 49% — said they were “very” or “somewhat” comfortable around LGBT people in certain scenarios, according to the Accelerating Acceptance report released Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. That number was down from 53% in 2016.
The survey, conducted by the Harris Poll on behalf of LGBT media advocacy group GLAAD, reflects an about-face from positive momentum reflected in polls GLAAD has commissioned since 2014. “We are surprised at the scale and the swiftness” in the erosion of tolerance in the course of one year, Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, told USA TODAY. “But if you are LGBT and living in America, you are seeing this every day.”
In 2014, 30% of those surveyed said they were “very” or “somewhat” uncomfortable having their child placed in a class with an LGBT teacher. In 2015, that number dipped to 29%; in 2016, 28%. In 2017, it jumped to 31%.
The shift is unsettling fallout from the 2016 presidential election, Ellis said, which continued in 2017 amid inflammatory rhetoric and policy rollbacks. The result: “a permission slip for discrimination and bias” that has permeated society, she said. Among issues cited by GLAAD:
❚ LGBT content was scrubbed from White House, Department of State and Department of Labor websites shortly after the inauguration.
❚ In February, the Justice and Education Departments reversed guidance the Obama administration issued that said Title IX protected the rights of transgender students to use facilities that match their gender identity.
❚ In July, President Trump proposed a ban on transgender people from serving in the military, a challenge that was later dropped by the administration.
❚ It was announced last week that the Department of Health and Human Services will create a division that shields health care workers who refuse to treat patients such as LGBT people because of religious beliefs.
There has also been an increase in violence — 52 hate-related homicides in 2017, an 86% increase over 2016, GLAAD said.