Most Americans Continue to Favor Nondiscrimination Protections and Same-Sex Marriage, Despite Recent Declines
Support for LGBTQ rights has declined in recent years, but majorities of Americans continue to favor nondiscrimination protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and same-sex marriage. Using new data from PRRI’s 2026 American Values Survey, this Spotlight Analysis examines how Americans’ support for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections and same-sex marriage have changed over the past decade, and where Americans stand on these views today across political and religious groups. [1]
Support for LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections by Party and Religion
Nearly seven in ten Americans (68%) support laws that would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing, while one-quarter (26%) oppose such laws. Support has declined from a high of 80% in 2022 and is now slightly below the level recorded in 2015 (71%), when PRRI first asked this question.
How Do Republicans and Democrats View LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections?
Republicans and Democrats are increasingly divided on nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. In 2026, nearly nine in ten Democrats (88%) support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, compared with 69% of independents and a slim majority of Republicans (52%). While support among Democrats has remained relatively stable in recent years, support among independents has declined from 82% in 2022 to 69% today, and support among Republicans has dropped from 66% to 52% over the same period. As a result, the partisan gap between Democrats and Republicans has increased from 17 percentage points in 2015 to 36 points today.
Religious Groups and LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
Religiously unaffiliated Americans (79%) hold the highest level of support for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people in 2026, followed by nearly three-fourths of non-Christian Americans (74%), two-thirds of Christians of color (67%), and nearly two-thirds of white Christians (64%).[2] While support for nondiscrimination protections reached its highest levels across major religious groups in 2021 and 2022, it has declined since then. Compared with 2015, support is now lower among non-Christian Americans (79% in 2015 vs. 74% in 2026) and white Christians (67% vs. 64%), while remaining unchanged among Christians of color (67%) and unaffiliated Americans (79%).
However, there are differences when looking at specific religious traditions. Around three-fourths of Hispanic Catholics (77%), Black Protestants (75%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (74%), and members of other non-Christian religions (74%) support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. Around seven in ten Jewish Americans (71%) and white Catholics (69%) also support these protections.[3] Slim majorities of Latter-day Saints (56%) and Hispanic Protestants (53%) also support, while white evangelical Protestants are divided (50% favor vs. 46% oppose).
Looking at changes since 2015, support has declined among Jewish Americans (83% in 2015 vs. 71% in 2026), white Catholics (73% vs. 69%), white evangelical Protestants (56% vs. 50%), Hispanic Protestants (67% vs. 53%), and Latter-day Saints (72% vs. 56%). By contrast, support among Black Protestants has increased significantly over the same period, from 64% in 2015 to 75% in 2026.
Support for Same-Sex Marriage by Party and Religion
About two-thirds of Americans (64%) support allowing same-sex couples to marry legally, while three in ten (31%) oppose. Support for same-sex marriage has increased from 53% in 2015, when PRRI first asked this question, but has declined slightly from a high of 69% in 2022.
How Do Republicans and Democrats View Same-Sex Marriage?
Republicans and Democrats remain divided on same-sex marriage. Over eight in ten Democrats (82%) support same-sex marriage, as do two-thirds of independents (67%), while Republicans are divided (48% favor vs. 50% oppose). Support among Democrats has remained relatively stable since 2022 (83%), while support among independents has declined from 73% to 67% over the same period. Among Republicans, support has remained relatively the same since 2022 (49%).
Religious Groups and Same-Sex Marriage
Support for same-sex marriage increased across major religious groups between 2015 and 2021-2022, when it reached some of its highest levels, but has declined since. Compared with 2015, support has increased among white Christians (45% in 2015 vs. 59% in 2026) and Christians of color (43% vs. 54%). Support has also increased among religiously unaffiliated Americans (78% vs. 84%), while remaining unchanged among non-Christians (70%). Despite these changes, religiously unaffiliated Americans (84%) remain the most supportive of same-sex marriage, followed by non-Christian Americans (70%), white Christians (59%), and Christians of color (54%).
Looking more closely at specific religious traditions, three in four white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (75%) support same-sex marriage, as do around seven in ten Jewish Americans (71%), white Catholics (70%), members of other non-Christian religions (70%), and Hispanic Catholics (69%). Slim majorities of Latter-day Saints (55%) and Black Protestants (53%) also support same-sex marriage, while Hispanic Protestants (45%) and white evangelical Protestants (35%) are the only groups without majority support.
Support for same-sex marriage has increased among nearly all religious groups since 2015, with the largest increases among Latter-day Saints (27% to 55%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (59% to 75%), Black Protestants (38% to 53%), and Hispanic Catholics (56% to 69%).
To see support for same-sex marriage and LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections in all 50 states, explore the 2025 PRRI American Values Atlas.
[1] The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 5,200 adults (age 18 and up) living in all 50 states in the United States, who are part of Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel, and an additional 339 who were recruited by Ipsos using opt-in survey panels to increase the sample sizes in smaller states. Interviews were conducted online between August 20 and September 7, 2026. The margin of error for the national survey is +/- 1.6 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence, including the design effect for the survey of 1.48. Additional information about the KnowledgePanel is available on the Ipsos website: ipsos.com/en-us/solution/knowledgepanel. The survey topline, including question wording and detailed results, is available here.
[2] Non-Christians include Jewish Americans, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, and members of other non-Christian religions.
[3] Jewish Americans is the only non-Christian religious group for which we have a large enough sample to report results separately.
