PBS - A majority of Americans oppose restrictions on LGBTQ+ people, yet the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll shows support for such laws is growing as many Republican state and local lawmakers pursue hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights around the country.

Forty-three percent of Americans now say they support laws that criminalize the act of providing gender-transition-related medical care to minors, according to the latest poll, marking a 15-percentage point increase since April 2021. About half of Americans — 54 percent — say they oppose such laws.

“It’s promising to see a majority of Americans oppose these dangerous, misguided bills targeting the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender young people, at a time when we’re witnessing nonstop anti-trans political attacks and irresponsible news coverage across both mainstream and right-wing outlets,” said Jonah DeChants, senior research scientist at The Trevor Project, in a written statement to the PBS NewsHour.

So far in this year’s legislative session, state lawmakers have introduced 434 bills that restrict fundamentals like health care, education and the freedom of expression for LGBTQ+ people, and are concentrated across Southern states, according to analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union. Most bills have advanced to committee and nearly two dozen have passed into law. That overall tally is up from last year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, when 315 bills were introduced.

Read More