Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on LGBTQ Issues

The gay rights movement was one of the fastest-moving civil rights movements in history. Now with some lawmakers moving to codify gay marriage rights into law, the federal government is revisiting gay rights for the first time since the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, a case that found that the constitutional right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples.

Some argue that the transgender rights movement has failed at replicating the success of the gay rights movement due to the more consequential impacts of transitioning and the impact on youth specifically. While much of the country remains deeply divided on trans issues, there has been much progress and common ground on LGBTQ issues as a whole. Here are a few examples of data and stories to support that:

• Support for same-sex marriage hit record highs in 2021 with 55% support from Republicans, 83% from Democrats, and 73% from Independents according to Gallup’s (Center bias) data. 
• 55% of Republicans, 65% of Independents, and 72% of Democrats say that there is too much anti-LGBTQ legislation and that politicians are using it as a wedge issue, according to a 2023 poll from Data for Progress (Left bias). 
• 84% of Democrats, 72% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans feel comfortable with a close friend coming out as LGBTQ according to the Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll.
• The Williams Institute finds that a majority of LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual) Republicans and Democrats have disclosed their sexual orientation to those close to them. 72% of LGB Republicans and 94% of LGB Democrats are proud to be a part of the LGBT community.
• 62% of Republicans, 78% of independents, and 85% of Democrats support laws that protect LGBTQ citizens from discrimination, PRRI data finds. 
• 87% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans agree that there is “some” or “a lot” of discrimination toward transgender people in society, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s (Center bias) 2020 data.
• In North Carolina, 87% of Republicans, 75% of Democrats, and 78% of Independents said that “conversion therapy” for those under 18 should be banned in their state, according to a 2019 poll from Public Policy Polling.

See more examples of common ground on issues where you might not expect to find it:

• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Abortion
• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Foreign Policy
• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Social Media Issues
• Here’s Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Crime
• Republicans and Democrats Actually Agree on These Gun Restriction Policies

Clare Ashcraft is the Bridging & Bias Assistant at AllSides. She has a Center bias.

Reviewed by Henry A. Brechter, Managing Editor (Center bias), and Andrew Weinzierl, Research Manager & Data Journalist (Lean Left bias)