this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
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New survey suggests decline has strong correlation between Christian nationalism and opposition to inclusive policies

Public support for same-sex marriage and nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans has fallen, even as the overall share remains high, according to new findings by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute.

Broad majorities of Americans, regardless of political party or faith, continue to support LGBTQ+ rights and protections, the analysis found. But after years of rising public support, the decline is notable, said Melissa Deckman, CEO of the PRRI.

The survey analyzed Americans’ attitudes toward LGBTQ+ rights across three policies: same-sex marriage, nondiscrimination protections and religion-based service refusals. It found support for all three measures had softened for the first time since the PRRI began tracking views of the issues nearly a decade ago.

While the “vast majority of Americans continue to endorse protections for LGBTQ Americans”, Deckman said the results may serve as a “warning sign” for those working to safeguard the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans amid a conservative legislative and legal effort to erode them.

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[–] psvrh@lemmy.ca 40 points 8 months ago (4 children)

There's a psychological phenomenon, a cascade effect, that causes people's perceptions to flip if enough people around them also change their minds.

It's not nefarious, or a sign of stupidity or ignorance, it's part of how social primates like humans work. And it's something that the Right knows to work, and is exploiting.

It's how we got LGBTQ rights, and it's how we'll lose them if we, and especially the media, don't stop giving these troglodytes and their ideas oxygen.

Anyone who tells you that if we just educate people it'll make a difference ( it won't, cf the Backfire Effect) and that "sunshine is the best disinfectant" is either woefully ignorant of how humans work, or is actively disingenuous.

Tl;dr radical centrists are paving stones on the path to He'll.

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I agree it works in the opposite direction too. My boys both LGBTQ ask me about gays when I was teenager and I had to admit I never met any and if I ever thought about gay people it was not in a positive light.

Keep in mind I grew up in Southern Baptist environment were my dad was a racist. But when I grew up got away my prospective change when I got around more left wing individuals and exposed to gay people.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

My daughter is queer and it is to my shame that when I was around her age (13), I used "gay" and "fag" as insults. This was Indiana in the late 1980s. That's not an excuse for my behavior, just an explanation for why I thought it was okay.

And the really bad thing is my much older brother's best friend is gay and I had known him since I was 5 or 6 but I did that anyway.

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I was guilty of that kind of behavior too. We're social creatures and will repeat what those around us say, sometimes without considering how that might be received - especially when we were young and dumb.

Things have changed culturally since then. It took brave people in marginalized groups to stand up and bring awareness that they did not appreciate having their identities used as pejoratives before a lot of us realized that we were being jerks unintentionally.

We can't change the past, but we can do better for the future. The fact that you realized that you needed to do better and did is about all one can reasonably expect from a human being.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Thanks, I agree. And it didn't take me more than a year or two after that to realize it thankfully.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Phil Ochs knew that all the way back in 1966. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azdlpIy7oaQ

Edit: Unfortunately, that song slurs lesbians. Oh well.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Reminds me of Edward Berneys, nephew of Sigmund Freud and "father of public relations".

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons… who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.

– Propaganda (1928) pp. 9–10 Source

[–] h3mlocke@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago

Cool documentary The Century of the Self for anyone who wants to learn more about this goon

[–] ToastedPlanet@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

We need to educate the people who have not made up their minds. The internet is an excellent place to engage people who are sitting on the fence on a whole host of issues. We are in an information race, to reach as many people as possible. Not participating is how the fascists win. edit: typo

[–] psvrh@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago

That's actually my point: educating them doesn't really work, and the failure of the information deficit hypothesis (and the ensuing understanding of the Backfire Effect) has pretty much proven it.

We need to pivot from trying to inform people and focus on changing their minds.

Fascists don't bother with facts, because they don't really work. They've realized that people's brains aren't computers, they're rationalization engines that are just trying to make sense of the world and align it with ones precepts and social groups.

What would go a long was is coming down on the media and how it frames issues as having two sides, with equal validity. That'll at least prevent the more toxic ideas from getting an audience, and thusly credibility.