Gallup: Slim Majority Back New Civil Rights For LGBTs

Just in from Gallup Polling:

A slight majority of Americans (53%) say that new civil rights laws are needed to reduce discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. This comes one month after the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment, housing and other settings.

Gallup found similar support for new LGBT civil rights laws when it polled this question in 2017. Then, like now, Republicans were least supportive of these laws, with 27% in both years saying that new laws were needed. Democrats, meanwhile, are now nearly three times as likely as Republicans to support such laws, with the current 74% up from 67% in 2017.

While many Americans oppose new civil rights laws, they are highly supportive of ensuring LGBT individuals have equal employment opportunities — with 93% holding this view in a separate question asked in the same poll.