US News
A new poll finds that nearly half of Americans believe young people identify as LGBTQ because of pop culture, when in fact that's not the case.
A NORC Center for Public Policy Research and the LA Times poll released Thursday found that 48% of people surveyed said the current epidemic is encouraging people between the ages of 18 and 29 to adopt an “LGBTQ+ identity.”
Still, a majority (66%) said Americans under the age of 30 are more likely to “openly identify” as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or transgender because it is more accepted in today's society.
More than half of those surveyed (57%) agreed that societal stigma prevents older generations from coming out, with many choosing to keep their LGBTQ+ identity secret instead.
When asked specifically about transgender and non-binary people, “Why do some people feel that their gender does not match the sex they were assigned at birth?” more than half (53%) cited “societal influences” or “lifestyle choice,” compared with 46% who said it was “birth gender.”
Additionally, 40% of respondents believe that increased “political and media attention” towards transgender and non-binary Americans is “bad for society,” compared to 16% who say it has had a positive effect on society. 42% said the increased attention is neither good nor bad for society.
The poll found that 72% said they had been directly told by a friend, relative or coworker that they were gay or lesbian.
According to the survey, 37% of respondents admitted to knowing someone who “seriously suspects” they are queer, but that person has never opened up about their identity.
Additionally, while 27% of people surveyed said a friend or relative had come out to them as transgender or non-binary, only 12% said they suspected a loved one identified as opposite sex or non-gender.
Meanwhile, the poll also found that more than a third of Americans (77%) believe elected officials are “using the debate, primarily about transgender and non-binary people, to distract from more pressing priorities.”
The poll found that just 21% agreed that issues affecting transgender people are a “significant priority” for elected officials.
Dan Malat, senior research director at the NORC Center for American Studies at the University of Chicago, said the poll replicated several questions from a 1985 Los Angeles Times survey to better understand how attitudes toward gender have changed over the past 40 years.
“The 1985 survey data provided a valuable benchmark for measuring the extent to which public opinion toward homosexuals had changed.
“The United States and the lesbian community have changed over the past 40 years,” Marat said.
“By asking additional questions about other LGBTQ+ groups, including bisexual, non-binary and transgender, the data becomes even more powerful in understanding perceptions of these communities today.”
The survey, conducted by NORC Center for Religious Studies at the University of Chicago and funded by the California Foundation, surveyed 1,624 Americans from Jan. 18 to 26.
The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
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