New Research Shows Decline in Support for Same-Sex Marriage and Other Gay Objectives

Support for the redefinition of marriage has increased steadily ever since states starting legalizing male- and female-less marital unions. But that shine seems to be dulling of late.

That support has started slowing among some population groups, notably among Republicans and Independents, as shown here:

For the first time since the Public Religion Research Institute’s (PRRI) American Values Atlas began tracking nationwide support for same-sex marriage and other gay causes, these researchers found a decline in support for gay and trans issues in the past year. The decline in approval was not just related to same-sex marriage. It also extended to so-called nondiscrimination protections, and more citizens now support the rights of religious citizens to refuse to support gay causes they disagree with.

“Our survey shows that support for LGBTQ rights has dipped slightly from 2022 to 2023,” said Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., CEO of PRRI. She adds,

The growing partisan divide on these issues show the effect of the continuous use of LGBTQ identity and LGBTQ rights as a wedge issue in our nation’s culture wars.

This decline could possibly be the result of citizens growing tired of being regularly bombarded with gay causes nearly everywhere they turn in popular culture. Has this saturation reached a critical tipping point? A growing number of Americans seem to believe it has all been too much for their tastes and this is being reflected in polling data.

PRRI explains that many religious groups — though not all — registered small declines in support for gay causes. Even young Americans, aged 18-29, show a gradual decrease in support for such advocacy over the last three years, declining from a peak of 83% in 2020 to 75% in 2023. That is not insignificant.

Their data shows that two-thirds of Americans (67%) support marriage redefinition, an increase of 13 percentage points from 2014, when 54% supported same-sex marriage. However, this is a decrease since 2022, from a height of 69% support.

Declines in support for other gay causes, such as bakers being forced to create gay wedding cakes or photographers shooting same-sex weddings, has dropped a significant five points in the past year, from 65% of Americans in 2022 to 60% in 2023.

Additionally, support for so-called non-discrimination protections like housing and employment for Americans who identify with the ever growing alphabet soup of letters has dropped four points in the past year, from 80% in 2022 to 76% in 2023.

These are notable shifts that pro-family citizens should welcome. And PRRI’s recent findings are supported by other research.

Last year, Gallup reported that citizens who believe sexual relations between people of the same sex are morally acceptable declined 7 percentage points, from 71% approval in 2022 to 64% in 2023. This was a greater drop than the decline in moral approval (-4%) of sexual relations between unmarried men and women.

The gay publication The Advocate commented last year that this Gallup data marked a “shift in sentiment in a new direction after years of public opinion gradually moving toward tolerance for those in same-sex relationships.” They lament,

The 7-percentage-point decline marked one of the sharpest shifts in public opinion recorded this year. That’s a larger one-year shift than recorded by Gallup at any time since the start of the 21st century.

Clearly something to celebrate.

The Advocate notes further declines in their larger political and ideological ambitions, “The change comes at the same time moral support appears on the decline for gender transitioning.” They explain, “The survey found 55 percent of Americans believed changing one’s gender to be morally wrong, compared to 51 percent who held that view in 2021.”

Of course, no one can change their gender, because sex and gender are the same thing and exist in every cell of the human body. Such increasingly unscientific ideas surrounding so much of gay and trans advocacy is very likely one of the reasons why public support for their political agenda appears to be declining.

All citizens of good reason should hope this decline continues.

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