How News Sources Portray LGBTQ Equality Policies
This chart shows how major news sources across the ideological spectrum frame lgbtq equality policies, from left to right-leaning perspectives.
Support for same-sex marriage is higher among Democratic-identifying voters than Republican-identifying voters; 75% of Democrats support same-sex marriage, while only 37% of Republicans do. The Republican platform reiterates the party’s belief that marriage should be “between one man and one woman,” while the Democratic platform emphasizes its support for LGBTQ rights.
In 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the 14th Amendment requires all states to license marriages between same-sex couples and to recognize all lawful marriages that were conducted out of state. In December 2022, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining federal protections for same-sex and interracial couples. The Respect for Marriage Act passed in the House with a 258-169-1 vote with 39 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting it. It passed in the Senate 61 to 36 with 12 Republicans crossing party lines to vote for the legislation. A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted in December 2022, found 43% of Republicans support same-sex marriage compared with 87% of Democrats.
Politicians Who Support LGBTQ Equality Rights
Chris Christie
“[T]his past week or two Pope Francis is now allowing blessings of same-sex couples; even the Church is changing. Society has changed and what people are accepting in our country now is different than when I was growing up, certainly than when I was your age. And you know I dont have any objection to it [same-sex marriage] any longer. In the end, I think Ive been convinced.”
Joe Biden
“LGBTQI+ rights are human rights.”
Politicians Who Oppose LGBTQ Equality Rights
J.D. Vance
“The last thing the State Department should be doing is wasting its time and your tax dollars pushing far-left gender ideology…There are only two genders passports issued by the United States government should recognize that simple fact. I am proud to introduce this bill to restore some sanity in our federal bureaucracy.”
Nikki Haley
“They can find a place for trans kids to play sports, but biological boys should not be playing in girls sports. My daughter ran track in high school. I dont know how I would even have that conversation with her. How do we tell our girls that its OK to have a biological boy in their locker room? Its not. In no scenario … We have to remember that strong girls become strong women. Strong women become strong leaders. That doesnt happen by putting biological boys in womens sports. Youve got women who have worked so hard all their life to really get to points in high school and college where they want to, and to have a biological man, whos physiologically different, athletically, go and take that away from those women, no, were not gonna erase the women like that. You cant do that. You can find other ways of dealing with this, but it doesnt have to be on the backs of our girls, who were trying to make strong. Its the wrong thing to do, and Ill always fight against that.”
