A Majority of Republicans Believe Same-Sex Relations Are Immoral
Fewer Americans find same-sex relationships "morally acceptable" than did a year ago, according to an annual Gallup poll.
A recent Gallup poll shows that fewer Americans believe same-sex relations are morally acceptable than a year ago, fueled by a massive drop-off among Republicans who have changed their minds in the past 12 months.
Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted from May 1 to 24, compared Americans’ views of morality on various issues compared to a year ago, with some key socially liberal positions being favored by a majority of American adults — although enjoying less overall support than they did previously.
For example, while more than 7 in 10 adults say that using birth control, getting divorced, or having heterosexual sex outside of marriage is “morally acceptable,” fewer hold that opinion than did in May 2022.
By comparison, the number of American adults who say the death penalty is morally acceptable — a generally more conservative position — has increased over a year ago, jumping from 55% to 60% over the past 12 months.
With respect to the LGBTQ community, the morality of same-sex relations saw both the most significant shift in opinion for any issue and the largest decrease in support compared to a year ago.
In 2022, a record-high 71% of U.S. adults said gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable, but just one year later, the figure has dropped to 64% — just one percent above where views of same-sex relations stood in 2019.
Most Americans believe same-sex relations are morally acceptable, representing a significant increase over 2002, when only 38% held such views.
However, the sharp decline in viewing same-sex relations as moral has been fueled by a large drop in self-identified Republicans who say same-sex activity is immoral.
While a majority — 56% — of self-identified Republicans said same-sex activity was moral in 2022, only 41% now this view, the lowest figure for Republicans since 2014.
That drop also represents the largest single-year change on a single issue in the past two decades.
Democrats also demonstrated a decline in support for same-sex relations, with 79% classifying same-sex activity as moral, down from 85% a year ago. Meanwhile, support among independents increased slightly from 72% to 73%.
The news on views of morality coincides with the release of additional Gallup data showing that 43% of Americans believe that transgender identity, or the idea of changing one’s gender, is morally acceptable — a decline from 46% in May 2021, while the number of Americans declaring that changing one’s gender is morally wrong increased by four percentage points over the same period.
The drop in support for LGBTQ identity, especially among Republicans, could be fueled by several factors, though chief among them may be the increase in hostile rhetoric surrounding the introduction of bills in 41 states aimed at restricting LGBTQ freedoms or visibility. Most of those laws — including bans on transgender athletes, bans on gender-affirming care, bans on books with LGBTQ characters, and restrictions on restroom access — have been pushed by Republicans, who see such culture-war issues as not only politically beneficial but essential to the party’s identity.
Recently, several corporations have been bashed by conservatives for aligning themselves with the LGBTQ community — whether in the form of support for Pride Month or collaborations with transgender individuals, like actress and TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Members of the LGBTQ community — or events celebrating them — have increasingly been targeted by right-wing militia-style groups, as well as conservative pundits, who have revived decades-old tropes of LGBTQ individuals seeking to “convert” people into being gay or posing a danger to children.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security even warned last month that LGBTQ-themed events could be targeted for terrorist-style attacks due to increased threats against the community.
Additionally, conservatives regularly deploy the word “groomer” to anyone is LGBTQ-supportive, as part of a larger effort to slander LGBTQ individuals — and their allies on the political Left — of seeking to indoctrinate youth into either identifying as a member of the community or into supporting “woke” causes like LGBTQ equality.
By doing so, they are seeking to make any association with, or even mere proximity to, LGBTQ individuals as uncomfortable as possible, in the hope of making LGBTQ support societally unacceptable in the long term. These rhetorical tactics — a form of psychological warfare — may also play a role in influencing public opinion.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
