Support for LGBTQ Rights Slightly Decreased in the Last Year, Survey Finds

Nicole Chavez of CNN highlightsfindings from PRRI’s latest report, which tracks Americans’ attitudes on LGBTQ rights and profiles the LGBTQ community. PRRI’s survey of more than 22,000 adults finds that the majority of Americans continue to support protections for LGBTQ people in housing, employment, and public accommodation, but shows a gradual decline in support for these protections among Americans aged 18-29. In the past three years, support among these younger Americans declined from 83% in 2020 to 75% in 2023. The survey also finds that 10% of Americans identify as part of the LGBTQ community, including 22% of Americans aged 18-29, 10% of people ages 30-49, 6% of people between 50 and 64 years old, and 3% of people 65 years or older.

Judges, GOP Lawmakers Slam New Policy That Limits ‘Judge Shopping’

For The Washington Post, Tobi Raji describes lawmakers and judicial experts’ reactions to a new policy from the Judicial Conference of the United States that requires assigning judges at random for cases with statewide or national implications. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) welcomed the action, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) pushed back, questioning whether the conference has the authority to make the change, writing, “If current law is insufficient to meet the needs of justice, you can be assured that Congress … will make the relevant changes.” PRRI survey data showthat 51% of Gen Xers, 56% of baby boomers, and 61% of the Silent Generation say they have at least some trust in the federal government, compared with less than half of younger generations.

Poll Shows Slight Dip in U.S. Support for LGBTQ Rights Across Religious Groups

Kathryn Post at Religion News Service analyzes support for LGBTQ rights on three policy questions across religious groups. PRRI’s latest research found that although most major religious groups support allowing same-sex marriage, there were modest declines in support across the board, most notably among Hispanic Catholics (down 7 percentage points) and Muslims (down 13 percentage points). Across all three measures, Unitarian Universalists, the religiously unaffiliated, Jewish Americans, and non-Hispanic Catholics of color consistently showed the highest support for LGBTQ rights.

More Books Were Targeted for Censorship in 2023

Kim Bojórquez and Russell Contreras at Axios write that the American Library Association (ALA) tracked a 65% increase in the number of books targeted for censorship in U.S. schools and libraries in 2023 compared to the previous year, with 4,240 titles singled out in total. Approximately half of the books in question (47%) contained multicultural or LGBTQ themes. Some of the top books targeted last year were Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey found 43% of Americans favor banning discussion of sexual orientation and/or gender identity in public schools, compared with a majority (53%) who oppose such bans.