GLAAD reports that its “Accelerating Acceptance” survey measuring American attitudes towards LGBTQ people, conducted in partnership with the Harris Poll, has identified declines in acceptance on a variety of dimensions for the first time in the four years it’s been administered.
The organizations announced the survey findings in Davos at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
“In the past year, there has been a swift and alarming erosion of acceptance which can only be fought by being visible and vocal,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “This report puts numbers to the bias that too many LGBTQ Americans have recently experienced. GLAAD is fighting the rollback by enlisting philanthropic leaders like the Ariadne Getty Foundation and global changemakers attending the World Economic Forum to use their platforms and move our community forward.”
From 2016 to 2017, the percentage of non-LGBTQ adults who reported being “very” or “somewhat” comfortable with LGBTQ people across seven situations declined from 53% to 49%.
Alarmingly, 55% of LGBTQ respondents said they’d experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, up 11% year over year.