LGBTQ+ Adults Do Not Feel Safe and Do Not Think the Democratic Party Is Doing Enough to Protect Their Rights
By Kirby Phares
The LGBTQ+ community in America is increasingly experiencing discrimination and political attacks on its rights. This year alone, nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures nationwide, and at least 75 of these bills have been signed into law. As a result, many LGBTQ+ Americans feel unsafe in their communities and neglected by elected officials.
Recent polling from Data for Progress shows that LGBTQ+ adults nationally are greatly impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric in the U.S. Particularly, LGBTQ+ adults feel unheard and unprotected by the Democratic Party, which is the party that the community strongly prefers.
We find that LGBTQ+ adults have felt a change, with 47 percent saying that society has become less safe for the LGBTQ+ community in the past few years. More than half of respondents ages 55-64 (52 percent) and 65+ (53 percent) believe that America has become less safe.
We also find that the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has had significant impacts on the behavior of some groups in the LGBTQ+ community. While a majority of LGBTQ+ adults have not considered moving as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in their state, 43 percent of transgender adults and 41 percent of young adults ages 18-24 have considered moving. Notably, the legislation has driven members of the LGBTQ+ community to move out of their community or state: 8 percent of both transgender adults and people aged 18-24 have moved, in addition to 9 percent of LGBTQ+ adults 65 or older.
During a time of record anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, LGBTQ+ adults feel unheard by politicians. By a -29-point margin, LGBTQ+ adults disagree that public officials and politicians care about what people in the LGBTQ+ community think. Low political efficacy is driven by young LGBTQ+ adults, as 66 percent of respondents ages 18-24 do not feel acknowledged by politicians. LGBTQ+ adults 65+ are most likely to feel that LGBTQ+ issues are a priority, yet still, a plurality of them (48 percent) disagree.
Low political efficacy is also reflected by LGBTQ+ Democrats who do not believe that the Democratic Party is doing enough for the LGBTQ+ community. More than 75 percent of self-identifying LGBTQ+ adults want the party to do more to protect the rights of transgender and queer Americans from anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Transgender adults especially feel that the community is neglected, with 89 percent saying that the Democratic Party should be doing more to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.
The voting habits of the LGBTQ+ community show that a strong majority are both regular voters and Democratic ones. By a 40-point margin, LGBTQ+ adults normally vote for the Democratic Party (54 percent) over the Republican Party (14 percent). However, 17 percent of the LGBTQ+ community reports that they do not vote. Nonvoters are most likely to be younger — 16 and 17 percent of age groups 25-39 and 40-54 do not vote, respectively, and more than one-fourth (28 percent) of LGBTQ+ adults 24 or younger do not vote.
With legislatures across the country continually introducing anti-LGBTQ+ measures, most of which specifically target transgender and nonbinary young people, the Democratic Party cannot stand aside while the LGBTQ+ community and its rights are being attacked. Our polling shows that the Democratic Party needs to capitalize on its advantage among the LGBTQ+ community by prioritizing that community and mobilizing young nonvoters, especially. The Democratic Party must take action to stand up against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and protect LGBTQ+ Americans.
Kirby Phares is a senior analyst at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology