The Patriot Post® · 'Gay Pride' Month — 'LGBTQ' Support Declines

June is so-called “Gay Pride Month,” and it ended on a low note for homosexual advocacy groups that promote gender confusion and identity dysphoria among young people. The trends regarding acceptance of that agenda among those 35 and under are showing promising signs of decline.

The nation’s oldest (1985) and one of its most prominent homosexual groups, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has since expanded its advocacy to include the other manifestations of gender confusion — LGBTQ+ (ad infinitum) — just received the results of opinion research it sponsors annually. And the news was not good … for homosexual advocacy.

The report notes: “Five years ago, GLAAD partnered with The Harris Poll to launch a unique index to measure Americans’ attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people and issues. In the first three years of the Harris Poll study, the Accelerating Acceptance report showed positive momentum year-over-year, with Americans stating they were more comfortable with LGBTQ people and more supportive of LGBTQ issues. … Last year, however, the acceptance pendulum abruptly stopped and swung in the opposite direction. More non-LGBTQ adults responded that they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ uncomfortable around LGBTQ people in select scenarios. … The decline in acceptance and rise in discrimination found in the survey corresponded to an increase in hateful rhetoric in our culture.”

By “hateful rhetoric,” GLAAD is referring to the empowerment of dissenting social and cultural views that it attributes to Donald Trump’s election. However, I would argue that the decline in support for GLAAD’s constituency is the result of the absurd extent to which these thugs have taken their jack-boot agenda, from men invading girls’ dressing rooms and bathrooms to battles over the use of pronouns that dare imply there are only two genders. Of course, only the most reality-challenged heterophobic gender deniers argue that point.

In fact, the Harris survey results regarding what parents would want for their children is the most revealing trend indicator. Among the Left’s most dependable demographic of useful idiots, those aged 18-34, a full third (33%) said they would not be comfortable with their children in a class with a gender-confused teacher — and that was up from 25% in 2016 and 29% in 2017. And 39% of young adults indicated they did not want their children exposed to an LGBTQ-themed history lesson, up from 27% and 30%, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. The survey also found that only 45% of young people indicated they were “very” or “somewhat” comfortable around gender-confused/dysphoric individuals — and that was down from 63% and 53%, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. The number of young people indicating they would be distressed by finding out a family member was homosexual rose from 29% in 2017 to 36% in 2018.

Remarkably, there was a significant drop in acceptance among young women — 64% were “comfortable” with homosexuals in 2017, down to 52% in 2018. As I have noted previously, women voters are the largest Democrat Party voting block, and their collective LGBT sympathy is a major reason Democrats pander to that gender-confused subset.

Two years of polling results does not confirm a trend, and we will have to review GLAAD’s report next year. But the sentiments and sensibility of young people may be headed in the right direction.

Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema tipped his biased hand with this skewed observation about his company’s GLAAD poll: “We count on the narrative that young people are more progressive and tolerant. These numbers are very alarming and signal a looming social crisis in discrimination.” Well thanks for that heads up!

According to GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis, the “rise in divisive rhetoric both in politics and in culture” has had “a negative influence on younger Americans.” She insists that “LGBTQ people and allies must urgently address today’s cultural crisis by being visible and vigilant.”

However, as I previously noted, the outcome of homosexual advocates “being visible and vigilant” is precisely why their support is dropping. Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family agrees. He says that the drop in acceptance is because “the ‘gay’ movement continues to over-play its hand and that will certainly continue.” He adds, “Rather than simply being ‘live and let live,’ they are forcing Americans to embrace their politics, and often with overwhelming muscle and the life-crushing public accusations of a person’s so-called ‘bigotry’ and ‘hatefulness’ if they dare disagree.”

As for the absurd gender-pronoun variants, GLAAD’s Ellis notes that it’s “a newness that takes time for people to understand.” Or it takes time for people to reject.

The most ridiculous example of corporate support for gender-pronoun confusion came when Nabisco announced a new packaging scheme for its Oreo cookies: “We’re proud to celebrate inclusivity for all gender identities and expressions. In partnership with National Council of Teachers of English, we’re giving away special edition Pronoun Packs and encouraging everybody to share their pronouns with Pride today and every day.” Seriously, Nabisco’s advertising department has become that detached from gender reality.

Regarding how LOUD the “LGBT+” crowd has become, another just-released research report found that Americans think one in four people are LGBT+. According to the report, “Americans’ estimate of the proportion of gay people in the U.S. is more than five times Gallup’s more encompassing 2017 estimate that 4.5% of Americans are LGBT, based on respondents’ self-identification as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.”

Finally, for those who are quick to label others who don’t embrace their gender-bending orthodoxy as “haters,” we as Christians are called to love other sinners but not to embrace sin. That distinction is too often lost in rancorous rhetoric from the Left, as was the case over the weekend during New York’s “gay pride” parade. The storefront of a Chick-fil-A in Manhattan was desecrated with signs reading “F—k haters,” a reference to the fact the business is Christian owned. Of course, the “haters” were those who posted that message.