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International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) rally, Union Square , New York City, 2025
Most LGBTQ+ adults believe that there is currently not much to no acceptance at all for trans people, a new survey reports.
Over half of LGBTQ+ adults believe there isn't much — or any — social acceptance for transgender people today, a new poll has found.
While 61 percent of queer Americans ages 18 and older believe that there is a great deal or a fair amount of social acceptance for gay men and lesbians, and 52 percent believe that bisexual people are accepted socially, only 13 percent say the same for trans people, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center.
Instead, 52 percent say that there is currently not much to no acceptance at all for trans people. Respondents similarly agreed that nonbinary people are not as accepted socially, with 44 percent asserting they receive acceptance "not much/none at all."
Related:American satisfaction with state of LGBTQ+ rights reaches lowest point in over a decade
The majority of gay or lesbian adults (73 percent) as well as trans adults (68 percent) said that they have been the target of slurs or jokes because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Trans adults were nearly twice as likely as gay or lesbian adults to say they had faced harassment within the past 12 months (42 percent vs. 22 percent).
Trans adults were also more likely to say they have feared for their personal safety, with 70 percent saying they have felt they were in danger at some point. About half of gay or lesbian adults (52 percent) and over a quarter of bisexual adults (28 percent) said the same. Among trans adults, 42 percent said they have been treated poorly by health care professionals compared to 24 percent of gay or lesbian adults and 16 percent of bisexual adults.
Just over half of gay or lesbian adults (52 percent) said they received acceptance from their parents or the people who raised them, compared to 44 percent of bisexual adults and just 31 percent of trans adults. All groups were more likely to say their siblings accepted them, at 74 percent, 65 percent, and 58 percent, respectively.
Related:Transgender rights are under attack not just in the U.S., but around the world: study
One positive takeaway from the survey was that the majority of LGBTQ+ adults agree that there is more acceptance today compared with 10 years ago for all identities, with 67 percent saying the Supreme Court ruling that solidified marriage equality, Obergefell v. Hodges, made people somewhat or a lotmore accepting.
The majority of LGBTQ+ adults also expect there to be even more acceptance ten years from now. They believe that having more supportive religious leaders (61 percent) as well as out politicians (60 percent) and celebrities (57 percent) will increase acceptance a great deal or fair amount.
