Driven primarily by a shift among Republicans, support for LGBT causes is quickly losing steam in the United States.
According to a recent Gallup poll, support for legal same-sex marriage has flattened among Democrats — and dipped among Republicans — dropping across the board from 71% in 2022 and 2023 to 65% as of May 2026. The survey also found that only 62% of U.S. adults — the lowest number since 2016 — view same-sex relationships as morally acceptable.
In addition, American adults are showing less support for gender transition. Just 38% say it is acceptable for individuals to change their gender, down eight points from the 2021 peak.
The data comes from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, taken between May 1 and 17 of this year, and shows a marked decrease in support — after years of consistent increases — across several prominent LGBT issues. That drop-off, the data indicates, is driven almost entirely by a dramatic shift among Republicans.
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As recently as 2022, 55% of Republicans said they supported keeping same-sex marriage legal — but the latest survey shows that number has dropped nearly 20 points to 37%. Independents showed a single-digit drop — from 73% to 67% — over the same period, while Democrats have remained steady at 87% in support of legal same-sex marriage.
Republicans also drove the change in how same-sex relationships were viewed from a moral perspective. In 2022, 56% of Republicans viewed same-sex relationships as morally acceptable — and that number has dropped more than 20 points to 35%. Independents again saw a drop of less than 10 points, from 72% to 64%, and Democrats saw almost no change at 81%.
A similar pattern appeared when those same respondents were asked whether they believed it was morally acceptable for individuals to change their genders. Support among Republicans dropped from 22% in 2021 to 5% in 2026. Independents saw a slight decline from 48% support to 42%, and even Democrats registered a seven-point drop from 67% to 60% in 2026.
The overall pattern is clear: support for the LGBT agenda peaked across all parties in 2021 and 2022, and Democrats have seen the smallest declines in support. Independents have registered slight declines in support across the board, and Republicans have shown the most dramatic shifts across every major issue.
