LGBT acceptance in the US declines for the first time in years, GLAAD poll shows

A survey sponsored by the pro-homosexual advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has indicated that the acceptance of LGBT people in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest in four years.

The study, conducted by The Harris Poll, was aimed at measuring Americans' comfort level toward LGBT people with a variety of situations, such as learning a family member is homosexual and having a child placed in a class with an LGBT teacher.

GLAAD stated that awareness and acceptance of LGBT issues have been increasing since it released its first report in 2014, but the group claimed that "the acceptance pendulum abruptly stopped and swung in the opposite direction" this year.

The findings revealed that 49 percent of non-LGBT adults reported being "very" or somewhat" comfortable with LGBT people across seven situations, compared to 53 percent last year.

Fifty-five percent of LGBT adults said that they have experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, an 11 percent increase from the previous year.

Thirty percent of non-LGBT respondents said they would be uncomfortable learning that a family member is LGBT, up from 27 percent last year. Thirty-one percent were uncomfortable having their child placed in a class with an LGBT teacher, compared to 28 percent the previous year. Thirty-one percent were uncomfortable learning their doctor is LGBT, an increase of three percentage points from last year.

The poll was conducted online between Nov. 16–20, 2017 with a total of 2,160 adult respondents, 1,897 of whom were classified as non-LGBT adults.

The report also revealed that 79 percent of non-LGBT respondents said they "support equal rights for the LGBT community," while only 14 percent of the non-LGBT population is considered as "resisters" of the pro-homosexual and pro-transgender agenda.

GLAAD CEO Sarah Ellis said that the decline in LGBT acceptance in the U.S. is "a dangerous repercussion in the tenor of discourse and experience over the last year."

The report attributed the decline to President Donald Trump's proposed ban on transgenders joining the U.S. military and the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, whom Ellis says is opposed to "marriage equality" despite his attendance at a pro-LGBT Episcopal church.

Bob Stith, the Southern Baptist Convention's former national strategist for gender issues, said he is "not sure" that the findings are showing a "significant difference" in American attitudes toward the LGBT community.

He went on to say that "given the statistical variation of polls, I don't think either side can draw accurate conclusions as to the long-term significance."

"[I]t is possible that the results could signify that the onrush of gay activism is beginning to reach the sea wall of Bible believing Christians," Stith remarked.

"For those of us who are fully committed to Scripture, acceptance of what God calls sin simply can't happen. That is a bridge we cannot cross," he added.