The Williams Institute

This report analyzes over 325 national public opinion surveys dating back to June 1977 that ask the public their opinions on LGBT rights and finds that national trends indicate a rapid and significant increase over the last three decades in public support for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States. On average, public support for marriage equality has more than doubled since the early 2000s, public support for adoption rights for same-sex couples has also doubled to about 63 percent, and about 72 percent of the public currently supports laws protecting lesbians and gay men from job discrimination. This report also analyzes the factors that have contributed to the change in national public opinion on LGBT rights. The data suggests that intergenerational change is less important than it would popularly seem as the shift in favorable public support has come from people of all ages and ideologies in the United States.