New poll shows more and more Americans have identified themselves as social conservatives since 2012.
According to the survey conducted by Gallup, 38 percent of Americans now identify as socially conservative, a five-point increase from 33 percent in 2022 and the highest point in over 10 years. Meanwhile, only 27 percent identified as socially liberal, a 33 percent drop from last year.
“For most of the past eight years, Americans were about as likely to say they were liberal as conservative on social issues,” Gallup summarized their findings. “This year, there is a more obvious conservative advantage.”
“Greater social conservatism may be fostering an environment more favorable to passing conservative-leaning social legislation, especially in Republican-dominated states,” it continued.
The societal shift can be traced to the pushback against companies such as Bud Light and Target for their contentious support of the LGBTQIA+ community.Â
Gallup noted that the Republican Party may benefit from this trajectory if it wants to advance legislation that limits some of the far-left policies supported by Democratic lawmakers.
Many of these laws, including ones intended to shield kids from irreversible treatments and surgeries and remove explicit, age-inappropriate material from public school libraries and classrooms.
LGBT activists have called these state-level proposals a direct violation of their rights. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued a “state of emergency” in response to the Republican-led laws.
“The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived — they are real, tangible and dangerous,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson. “In many cases, they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states.”
Cathy Renna, the communications director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, said that they are now fighting both the legislation itself and safeguarding the wellbeing of the queer community.
“This is a time when our community needs to not just come together, but redouble our efforts to fight these bills but also to provide resources and protection and support to folks who are in places where it is increasingly dangerous to be queer,” Renna said in a statement.
