There is a clear divide in how Americans view the influence of LGBTQ+ people on society.
Three in four Democrats who said LGBTQ+ people have had an impact on America see it as positive, according to a national poll conducted for The Times by NORC at the University of Chicago.
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Nearly the same share of Republicans, 77%, said the influence of LGBTQ+ people has been somewhat or very negative.
A similar split occurs along religious lines: About two-thirds of adults who identify as Protestant say the influence has been negative, while 69% of those who identify as having no religion or as atheist or agnostic see the influence as positive.
The responses reflect the most notable divide in the survey. Politics and religion, not education, race or income, are the biggest indicators of how Americans feel about LGBTQ+ rights and the place of queer people in society.
Put another way, how LGBTQ+ people are viewed depends largely on where one is located in red and blue America and where one worships, if at all.
The data is consistent with growing political polarization across the country, which has seen decades of so-called culture wars: clashes over abortion, end-of-life care, birth control and a host of issues. LGBTQ+, including same-sex marriage.
“I grew up in church and in the Bible it says that people of the same sex are not in a relationship,” said Kendra Jackson of Ventura, explaining that her views on LGBTQ+ people are rooted in her religion.
Jackson, who is in his early 50s, is aware of the reality of the modern LGBTQ+ community and the moral restrictions of his faith. His sister and one niece are lesbians and another niece is transgender. But at his Baptist congregation, his pastor criticizes homosexuality, he shows little tolerance toward LGBTQ+ people, and he tells his parishioners not to email him or confront him later if they disagree with his sermons. he.
“A lot of members have stopped coming because they have gay and lesbian children and of course they feel different,” Jackson said.
As for her family members who are LGBTQ+ and society in general, “It's everywhere around me,” she said. “I'm not going to love them any differently because of who they are, but it's not for me.”
American and LGBT flags are seen in Key West on May 7. About a third of the country, a group that is strongly Republican and significantly more likely than the rest of the adult population to identify as Protestant or Catholic, resists LGBTQ+ acceptance. .
(Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images)
The new poll, paid for by the California Endowment, highlights the huge changes in public attitudes since a similar poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times in 1985.
The poll also highlights resistance to accepting queer people among about a third of the country, a group that is strongly Republican and significantly more likely than the rest of the adult population to identify as Protestant or Catholic.
One question is illustrative. In 1985, nearly 2 in 3 people said they would be very upset if their child were gay or lesbian. Today only 14% say that.
Half of adults today said that if their child came out as gay or lesbian, it wouldn't be a problem. But among people who identify as Protestant or other Christian, nearly half say they would be upset, and about 1 in 5 say they would be very upset.
When asked if sexual relations between two adults of the same sex are wrong, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say yes. Protestants and Catholics are also more likely than those who are not religious to say that same-sex sexual relations are wrong.
That's a view shared by Timothy Mayo of Clay Center, Kansas: Sex between two adults of the same sex is “morally wrong,” said Mayo, a registered Republican who said his views are rooted in his Christian faith.
“Even if they think they're gay and lesbian or whatever, Christ will still love them and forgive them, and it's not my place to condemn them, but that doesn't mean it's right,” said Mayo, who is a deacon in his Baptist congregation at his city of 4,000 people just south of the Nebraska border.
More than a quarter of Protestants said they would be less likely to vote for a gay or lesbian candidate for public office, compared to 8% of atheists and non-religious people. If the candidates were transgender or non-binary, respondents from all religious groups (43% of Protestants, 35% of Catholics, and 30% of other religious groups) said they would be less likely to vote for them.
Nearly half of Protestants and Catholics said same-sex relationships were okay for others, but not for themselves.
Two-thirds of atheists, agnostics or non-religious people say they personally approve of same-sex relationships, while just over a quarter of Protestants do.
“Honestly, I don't care what consenting adults do, whether it's religion, sexual orientation or political opinions,” said Richard Carr, who runs his own recycling business in Portland, Oregon. “As long as you don't hurt children or animals, I don't care what you do,” and he added that he believes “sex is fluid depending on your circumstances.”
Carr, 55, is also a Republican who believes in conservative ideals but distances himself from “a lot of the crap” of the modern Republican Party. Raised in a conservative Jewish family, Carr said that today he is not religious: “I don't have any religion; I don't know how to explain what I am.”
He questions Christian followers' trust in the Bible and says, “Everything written by man is corrupted by man.” And he sees religion as a force that works against a stable community.
“All it does is divide people or develop hatred for things,” Carr said. He explained that he usually wrinkles his nose at people who question the private lives of others, as his family did when he did not marry, although He's had a girlfriend for a quarter of a century.
“As an adult, I made a decision: do I care or not? I say, why do I care? “It doesn’t bother me,” Carr said.
The increase in political and media attention on transgender and non-binary people is seen as bad for society by 40% of adults. But among all adults, there is a clear division: two-thirds of Republicans consider the political and media attention on trans people bad, while less than 20% of Democrats agree.
Among religious groups, the divide persists: 49% of Protestants and 43% of Catholics found media attention on trans people bad compared to 29% of atheist and agnostic adults.
Jackson, the Ventura County grandmother, said she is concerned about the growing visibility of transgender, nonbinary, gay and lesbian people in entertainment, politics and advertising.
“I see it taking over other people,” Jackson said. “Nowadays, when watching television, a lot of commercials are aimed at transgender people or lesbians, and I think that's wrong.”
NORC conducted this survey in January using its AmeriSpeak panel, a probability-based panel designed to reflect American households as a whole. The survey surveyed 1,624 adults, including 775 Californians and 313 LGBTQ+ people, and was weighted to match benchmarks of age, gender, census division, race and ethnicity, and education. It had an estimated margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
