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WASHINGTON — A new survey shows a slight dip nationwide in support for nondiscrimination protections for the LBGTQ community and same-sex marriage.
Utah, meantime, bucked the trend with an increase in support for nondiscrimination protections. Support for same-sex marriage held steady.
According to the Public Religion Research Institute figures for 2023, released last week, 76% of survey respondents across the nation expressed support for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections, down from 80% in 2022. In Utah, 86% of respondents expressed support in 2023, up from 81% in 2022. Only Hawaii, 88%, and Washington, D.C., 87%, registered higher support levels for nondiscrimination protections than Utah in 2023.
Nationwide support for same-sex marriage dipped from 69% to 67% in 2023. The figure in Utah was the same in 2022 and 2023, 65%, tied for 25th place in 2023 among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Across the country, 10% of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community while the figure was 9% in Utah. By state, the lowest LGBTQ concentration was in South Carolina and Alabama, 4% each, while the highest concentration was in New Mexico, 16%.
Troy Williams, executive director at Equality Utah, an LGBTQ advocacy group, expressed elation with the Utah numbers.
"Despite what some might think, the people of Utah overwhelmingly support laws that include and protect LGBTQ people," he said in a statement, alluding to the 86% support level for nondiscrimination protections. Though the figures edged down across the nation, he said, "Utah is defying that trend and actually growing in support."
Melissa Deckman, CEO at the Public Religion Research Institute, alluded to the slight nationwide dip in LGBTQ support measures.
"The growing partisan divide on these issues shows the effect of the continuous use of LGBTQ identity and LGBTQ rights as a wedge issue in our nation's culture wars," she said in a statement. Support for nondiscrimination protections among Democrats held steady from 2022 to 2023, according to the report, but dropped among Republicans, from 66% to 59%.
Even so, the organization noted "strong majorities of Americans" support LGBTQ rights.
Public debate in Utah on LGBTQ issues of late has focused on the transgender community, particularly transgender youth. According to the new figures, a small portion of the overall LGBTQ community — 2% — identified as transgender or nonbinary.
Here are more findings:
- Nationally, less than half of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hispanic Protestants, white evangelical Protestants, Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses expressed support for same-sex marriage in 2023.
- The LGBTQ community is "overrepresented among the youngest generations, Democrats and liberals," reads the report.
- LGBTQ concentrations reflect "the geographic and racial diversity" of the overall U.S. population.
- While 10% of Americans overall identified as part of the LGBTQ community, the figure was 22% for the 18-29 age group.
