PRRI REPORT: Republicans Out of Touch on LGBTQ Issues
May 2, 2018
A new report released by PRRI confirms that Republican lawmakers are out of touch with American voters. Opposition to LGBTQ rights has fallen dramatically, the report finds, with support for marriage equality and nondiscrimination protections growing across party lines. The emerging consensus on LGBTQ issues means that Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures need to stop play partisan games and support the LGBTQ community.
Despite a majority of voters in states across the country supporting LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, not one Senate Republican has cosponsored the Equality Act of 2017. Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley have yet to even hold a hearing on the bill. Republican legislators, scared of far-right primary opponents, continue to stand in the way of progress.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to promote discriminatory policies against LGBTQ Americans by arguing that LGBTQ people don’t deserve equal access to services from small businesses and health care providers, or equal treatment at school and in the workplace. Less than a quarter of Americans oppose legal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans.
The 2017 elections were a landmark moment for the LGBTQ community, but we have even more gains to make in 2018 by in electing Democrats up and down the ticket who will fight for and protect the rights of all LGBTQ Americans.