While Religious Right activists have felt emboldened by Donald Trump’s presidential victory and the GOP retaining power in Congress, a new poll released this morning by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) finds that the conservative movement’s political agenda is increasingly unpopular.
Instead, more and more Americans are supportive of LGBTQ equality, access to birth control and keeping houses of worship outside of electoral politics.
Following Trump’s win, social conservatives were determined to push through their policy goals of repealing the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate, allowing houses of worship that explicitly endorse candidates for political office to keep their tax-exempt status, and undermining legal protections for LGBTQ people—if not overturning the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision altogether.
While they may have support in the White House and Congress, the new PRRI poll finds such policies to be widely unpopular among the American people:
- 64 percent of Americans oppose laws that would allow businesses to cite religious reasons to deny services to gay and lesbian customers.
- 63 percent support marriage equality for same-sex couples.
- 53 percent are against laws that would prohibit transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities that correspond with their gender identity.
- 70 percent favor laws barring discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing and public accommodations.
- 65 percent think that the bullying of LGBTQ students in schools is “a major problem.”
- 67 percent support requiring health insurance plans to cover contraceptives.
- 71 percent “oppose allowing churches and places of worship to endorse political candidates while retaining their tax-exempt status.”
House Republicans, however, have already vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage requirement and are unlikely to approve any legislation to ensure legal protections for LGBTQ Americans.
In addition, the Trump administration has already undermined protections for transgender students. President Trump has also pledged to let houses of worship endorse candidates for elected office without it affecting their tax status and has said that he would appoint judges to the bench who would oppose rulings like the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision.
