The GOP’s sudden turn away from gay rights — and acceptance

Americans’ embrace of same-sex rights and acceptance of gay Americans has been one of the steadiest trends in recent political history, with support for same-sex marriage gradually rising from less than 30 percent in the mid-1990s to around 70 percent today. Support has become so strong that pollsters have largely stopped even asking about it.

But there’s increasing evidence that these gains have halted and even reversed somewhat, largely thanks to Republicans moving in the opposite direction — in some cases, sharply.

Gallup is the latest to show this:

GOP support for same-sex marriage has declined from a high of 55 percent in both 2021 and 2022, to 49 percent in 2023 and now to 46 percent today — a nine-point drop over two years.