Support for same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ+ issues has slipped from recent highs in the United States, according to a new Gallup survey that points to changing views among Republicans as the primary driver behind the decline.
The findings come from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, conducted May 1-17, 2026. The poll found that support for legal same-sex marriage, acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships, and approval of gender transition have all fallen from peaks reached in the early 2020s.
Today, 65% of Americans say same-sex marriage should be legal, down from a high of 71% in 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, 62% say gay and lesbian relationships are morally acceptable, the lowest level Gallup has recorded since 2016.
Republicans Are Driving the Shift
According to Gallup, most of the recent decline has come from Republicans.
Support for same-sex marriage among Republicans has fallen from 55% in 2021 and 2022 to 37% today. The share of Republicans who view gay and lesbian relationships as morally acceptable has also dropped sharply, falling 21 points since 2022 to 35%.
By comparison, support among Democrats has remained largely unchanged. Gallup found that 87% of Democrats support same-sex marriage, while 81% say gay and lesbian relationships are morally acceptable. Independents have seen smaller declines, with 67% supporting same-sex marriage and 64% viewing same-sex relationships as morally acceptable.
Support Remains Higher Than a Generation Ago
While the numbers have declined in recent years, support for marriage equality remains significantly higher than it was just a few decades ago.
Gallup notes that only 27% of Americans supported legal same-sex marriage when it first asked the question in 1996. Support steadily increased over the next two decades, eventually helping pave the way for the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Acceptance of Transgender People Has Also Declined
The survey found a similar trend when it comes to transgender issues.
Gallup reported that 38% of Americans now believe changing one’s gender is morally acceptable, down from 46% when the question was first asked in 2021. At the same time, 57% now say it is morally wrong.
Again, Republicans showed the largest shift. Just 5% of Republicans now say changing one’s gender is morally acceptable, down from 22% in 2021. Among independents, that figure stands at 42%, while 60% of Democrats say gender transition is morally acceptable.
The findings come after years of political battles over transgender rights, including debates surrounding gender-affirming healthcare, school policies, sports participation, military service, and legal protections.
A Growing Political Divide
Gallup concluded that Americans became increasingly accepting of LGBTQ+ people and supportive of LGBTQ+ rights over the last two decades, but that trend has begun to reverse in recent years.