GLAAD Reports First Decrease in LGBTQ Acceptance

GLAAD reports:

Today, GLAAD released the findings from its fourth annual Accelerating Acceptance report, a national survey among more than 2,100 U.S. adults conducted on GLAAD’s behalf by The Harris Poll. Accelerating Acceptance measures American attitudes toward LGBTQ people and issues. The Harris Poll was conducted online November 16-20, 2017 among a total of 2,160 US adults. 1,897 are classified as non-LGBTQ adults.

For the first time, the 2018 Accelerating Acceptance report found a decrease in acceptance of LGBTQ people. As in previous years, this year's report examines issues such as comfort levels around LGBTQ individuals, reports of LGBTQ discrimination, and support for equal rights.

“In the past year, there has been a swift and alarming erosion of acceptance which can only be fought by being visible and vocal,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “This report puts numbers to the bias that too many LGBTQ Americans have recently experienced. GLAAD is fighting the rollback by enlisting philanthropic leaders like the Ariadne Getty Foundation and global changemakers attending the World Economic Forum to use their platforms and move our community forward.”

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Less than half of non-LGBTQ adults (49 percent) reported being “very” or “somewhat” comfortable with LGBTQ people across seven situations. This is a significant decline from 53 percent from the previous year and the first time the Accelerating Acceptance report has shown a drop in acceptance for LGBTQ people.
• GLAAD and The Harris Poll found that 55 percent of LGBTQ adults reported experiencing discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity. This number is a significant 11 percentage point increase from the previous year (44 percent).
• There was a decline in non-LGBTQ adults’ comfortability around LGBTQ people, particularly in more personal situations. Compared to last year’s results, significantly more respondents noted that they would be uncomfortable learning a family member is LBGTQ (30 percent vs. 27 percent), having their child’s teacher be LGBTQ (31 percent vs. 28 percent), and learning their doctor is LGBTQ (31 percent vs. 28 percent).

See the full article here.