One in four approve of Trump administration handling of LGBTQ rights

Only 24 percent of U.S. adults approve of the Trump administration’s handling of LGBTQ rights while 38 percent disapprove, A Hill-YouGov poll has found.

Republicans expressed stronger support than Democrats, but neither political party expressed overwhelming support for the administration’s LGBTQ policies.

Just 8 percent of Democratic respondents either somewhat or strongly approve of the administration’s handling of LGBTQ issues, compared to 47 percent of Republicans. Sixty-seven percent of Democrats somewhat or strongly disapproved, compared to just 12 percent of Republicans.

The survey also found that half of respondents support legislation to ban discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as the House-passed Equality Act aims to do. Only 21 percent opposed such legislation, while 19 percent were neutral.{mosads}

More Democrats (66 percent to 15 percent), Republicans (33 percent to 31 percent) and independents (54 percent to 22 percent) supported such legislation than opposed it.

As the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots approaches, the survey found that millennials were more aware of them than any other generation, with 30 percent aware of the riots, compared to 24 percent of Generation X, 19 percent of baby boomers and 25 percent of the silent generation.

The riots began on June 28, 1969, after New York Police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar that was popular with the LGBTQ community. The demonstrations are considered the beginning of the LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S.

Thirty-one percent of millennials, 23 percent of Gen X, 32 percent of baby boomers and 21 percent of the silent generation had at least heard of the riots, but did not know any details about them.

After the Stonewall raid was described to them, 54 percent of respondents said they would be at least somewhat surprised if something like that happened today, whereas 33 percent said they would be not very or not at all surprised.

The majority of respondents said they believe that in the past 50 years, conditions have improved for the LGBTQ community. Only 11 percent said conditions were worse, 12 percent said conditions were neither better or worse and 63 percent said conditions were better.

On June 18, 1,225 U.S. adults responded to the online survey. The results have a margin of error of 3 percentage points.