GLAAD Releases 2022 Accelerating Acceptance Study
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has released the results of its annual acceptance study, an ongoing research effort to measure Americans’ attitudes and comfortability toward LGBTQ American citizens. This study is conducted in order to gauge the potential progress America has made as a society to accept and integrate the LGBTQ community, but also to measure the number of steps needed to be taken before reaching full acceptance.
In the 2022 findings, the results were, at the least, concerning.
The study states that 70% of the LGBTQ community feel that discrimination has increased over the past two years, specifically within close relationships such as family, social media, schools, public interactions with mutual acquaintances, and workplace environments. Another note worth mentioning is that 56% of respondents from Generation Z, the most out LGBTQ generation of all, felt more fearful for their own safety this year than in the past two years.
Also, GLAAD found that 54% of transgender and nonbinary people feel unsafe walking in their own neighborhoods compared to 36% of all LGBTQ adults, as well as less safe in environments such as work and stores.
The increase in expression of negativity toward these issues is not something that has come out of the blue; regressive, anti-LGBTQ rulings are increasingly present in our society today, with Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law making headlines globally with its passage in March.
This ruling effectively bans LGBTQ history or subject matter from being taught in elementary schools, as well as threatens LGBTQ educators and staff with termination from their job if they elaborate on their relationship statuses or queer identity in general.
Fortunately, though, this ruling alongside many others has inadvertently paved the way for nationwide advocacy for marginalized communities affected by the statistics reported in the acceptance study. Three out of four LGBTQ adults strongly agree that visibility in society is essential to gaining increased equality and acceptance, and more than half of the people interviewed believe that representation in the media and continued conversations regarding steps toward acceptance are essential to eliminating these statistics once and for all.
The existence and prevalence of the LGBTQ community is not up for debate, and while the 2022 GLAAD acceptance study reads at first to be disheartening, between the lines is a call for unity and resilience.
