Are Americans (slowly) becoming more inclusive?

The United States remains deeply divided along the lines of women’s rights and LGBT civil liberties. The latest survey, published by Pew Research last week, shows that while a growing majority of Americans oppose the use of Religious Liberty to refuse rights and services to others, the degree to which one supported civil liberties might be correlated with their exposure to those most affected.

The survey of over 4,500 Americans showed that 67% of people now believe that regardless of one’s religious beliefs, business owners should have to provide health insurance plans which included birth control. A slight majority of 51% believes that transgender people should have the right to use the restroom of their choice while 49% say businesses should be required to provide services to same-sex couple’s weddings, regardless of religious views.

Regardless of their views, however, most of those surveyed were unwilling to sympathise at all with the arguments of the other side. In all three propositions, the level of sympathy for both arguments never rose above 22%, highlighting the entrenched ideological divide that has become a staple in American politics.

Nevertheless, there are signs that American attitudes, especially towards members of the LGBT community, are changing. One in five surveyed said that their views on homosexuality had changed over the past few years, most of whom also said they have become more accepting. More encouraging still is that the main reason people say they are becoming more accepting is having a friend or family member who is gay or lesbian.

Those who knew someone who is transgender also had a noticeable impact on their views. Of those who actually knew a transgender person, 60% were in favour of using the restroom of their choice.

The vast majority of Americans (87%) now say they know someone who is gay or lesbian, but only about 30% claimed to know someone who is transgender. That statistic would still be double what it was last year, if compared to a 2015 GLAAD Study which showed only 16% of people had met someone who was transgender. At the time, that would have meant you were more likely to know someone who claimed to have seen a ghost.

Originally published at transgendertimes.wordpress.com on October 5, 2016.