Excerpts:
An overwhelming share of America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults (92%) say society has become more accepting of them in the past decade and an equal number expect it to grow even more accepting in the decade ahead. They attribute the changes to a variety of factors, from people knowing and interacting with someone who is LGBT, to advocacy on their behalf by high-profile public figures, to LGBT adults raising families.
At the same time, however, a new nationally representative survey of 1,197 LGBT adults offers testimony to the many ways they feel they have been stigmatized by society. About four-in-ten (39%) say that at some point in their lives they were rejected by a family member or close friend because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; 30% say they have been physically attacked or threatened; 29% say they have been made to feel unwelcome in a place of worship; and 21% say they have been treated unfairly by an employer. About six-in-ten (58%) say they’ve been the target of slurs or jokes.
Links:
- A Survey of LGBT Americans: Attitudes, Experiences and Values in Changing Times
- Complete Report (PDF)
- Topline Questionnaire (PDF)
Related Resources from Pew Research:
- As more Americans have contacts with gays and lesbians, social acceptance rises (Pew Research Center, 18 June 2013)
- In Gay Marriage Debate, Both Supporters and Opponents See Legal Recognition as Inevitable (Pew Research, 6 June 2013)
- Same-Sex Marriage, State by State (Pew Research, 6 June 2013)
- LGBT in Changing Times (Pew Research Center)
In the News:
- Survey offers complex portrait of LGBT Americans (Associated Press, 13 June 2013)
- Survey: Gay and Lesbian Population has Unique Religious Profile (Deseret News, 15 June 2013)
Other Resources:
- Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
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