Fri. January 26, 2018
A poll released Thursday showed a decline in acceptance of LGBT people for the first time in four years.
GLAAD's fourth annual Accelerating Acceptance report also found an increase in people reporting that they've experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The number of people reporting such incidents increased 11 percent from last year's survey to 55 percent.
The survey – fielded online November 16-20, 2017 among 1,897 U.S. adults over 18 – was conducted by The Harris Poll and announced during a panel discussion hosted by GLAAD and The Ariadne Getty Foundation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"In the past year, there has been a swift and alarming erosion of acceptance which can only be fought by being visible and vocal," GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a press release. "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."
Acceptance of LGBT people decreased for the first time in the report's 4-year history, dropping from 53 percent last year to 49 percent this year.
"Compared to last year's results, significantly more respondents noted that they would be uncomfortable learning a family member is LGBTQ (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)," GLAAD said.
John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, said that "an unseen casualty of a tumultuous year has been the LGBTQ community."
Over the past year, the Trump administration has attempted to rollback LGBT gains in overt and subtle ways, including an attempt to prohibit transgender people from serving in the military and protecting health care workers with religious or moral objections.
(Related: Trump rule would allow health care workers to refuse patients based on religious objections.)
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