But despite fears that Biden’s support for the LGBTQ+ community will lead to further backlash from anti-trans activists and lawmakers, surveys show that last week’s order is actually the most broadly popular of his first-week actions.
Analysis compiled by FiveThirtyEight finds that the pro-LGBTQ+ order has a significantly higher favorability rating than the next most popular order: Biden’s commitment to government-wide racial equity, which is supported by 77% of Americans. Next on the list is Biden’s order mandating the wearing of masks on federal property to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (75%), followed by an extension of the moratorium on federal student loan payments (68%).
In contrast, Biden’s least popular orders include his decision to rescind the Keystone XL pipeline extension over criticism from Native groups that it cuts across tribal lands (43%) and the embargo on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (49%).
The widespread public embrace of Biden’s pro-LGBTQ+ actions shouldn’t be a surprise: Despite protestations of a handful of extremists, Americans have long supported full equality for queer and transgender people in all walks of life. In 2019, a poll from the Public Religion Research Institute found that 69% of respondents were in favor of broad civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ individuals in areas like employment, public accommodations, and credit. Even 56% of Republicans backed LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination laws.
In fact, a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos the same year found that Americans already believed that federal policy broadly protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, even as the Trump administration steadily chipped away at the community’s basic rights. About 45% of respondents believed that a law like the Equality Act was already on the books, which is incorrect.
Biden has vowed to pass the Equality Act during his first 100 days in office, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently reaffirmed that the legislation is a top priority now that Democrats control both houses of Congress.
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