Religion and politics create the sharpest divides over LGBTQ+ Americans, poll shows

Two-thirds of those who are atheist, agnostic or nonreligious say they personally approve of same-sex relationships, while just over a quarter of those who are Protestant approve.

"I honestly don't care what consenting adults do, whether it's religion, sexual orientation or political views," said Richard Carr, who runs his own recycling business in Portland, Ore. "As long as you are not hurting kids or animals, I don't care what you do," adding that he believes "sex is somewhat fluid based on your circumstances."

Carr, 55, is also a Republican who believes in conservative ideals but distances himself from "a lot of the crap" of the modern day GOP. Raised in a conservative Jewish family, Carr said that today, he's nonreligious: "I have no religion at all — I don't know how to explain what I am."

He questions the reliance on the Bible by Christian adherents, saying, "Anything written by man is corrupted by man." And in religion, he sees a force that runs counter to a stable community.

"All it does is make people divided or develop hatred for things," Carr said. He explained that he's usually wrinkled his nose at people who question others' private lives, like his family did about him not marrying — although he's had a girlfriend for a quarter-century.

"As an adult, I made a decision — do I care or do I not? I say, why do I care? It doesn't bother me," Carr said.

The increase in political and media attention on transgender and nonbinary people is viewed as a bad thing for society by 40% of adults. But among all adults, there is a clear divide: Two-thirds of Republicans view the political and media attention on trans people as bad, while less than 20% of Democrats agree.

Among religious groups, the divide persists: 49% of Protestants and 43% of Catholics viewed the media attention on trans people as bad compared with 29% of atheist and agnostic adults.

Jackson, the Ventura County grandmother, said she worries about the increasing visibility of transgender, nonbinary, gay and lesbian people — in entertainment, politics and advertising.

"I see it being forced on other people," Jackson said. "Watching TV nowadays, a lot of commercials are geared toward transgenders or lesbians, and I think its wrong."

NORC conducted this poll in January using its AmeriSpeak panel, a probability-based panel designed to reflect U.S. households overall. The poll surveyed 1,624 adults — including 775 Californians and 313 LGBTQ+ people — and was weighted to match benchmarks for age, gender, census division, race and ethnicity, and education. It had an estimated margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.