Poll: Americans mixed on LGBTQ-related school policies

by CRAIG HELMSTETTER | June 8, 2023

The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s most recent Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted May 12-18, 2023, finds that a majority of American adults think teachers with same-sex spouses should be allowed to display pictures of their spouses on their desks, and that classroom discussions of lesbian, gay and bisexual people are acceptable in middle school.

But the survey also finds that Americans are split on whether teachers should use a teen’s preferred pronouns—and a majority oppose assigning books with lesbian, gay and bisexual characters to middle schoolers.

According to poll director Eric Plutzer, Ph.D., “The ‘live and let live’ philosophy reflected in the display of a family photo does not extend to literature assigned to children.  Republicans in particular apparently see the latter as unacceptable advocacy, and this denies teens the opportunity see people like themselves reflected in books.”

The survey asked American who they think should have the most influence on setting policies on these issues: Parents receive far and away the most support, while the state legislature and the governor receive relatively little support.

Note: While some questions that specifically focus on sexuality are more narrowly tailored to “LGB people” and “LBGQ people” (a less common alternate for LGBQ) we refer to the entire series of questions as LGBTQ related.

Over half of American adults believe teachers should be allowed to display photos of their spouse, no matter who it is, in the classroom

A majority of American adults support the right of elementary school teachers to display a photo of their spouse on their desk at school—even if the teacher’s spouse happens to be of the same gender as the teacher.

One-quarter think school policy should effectively side-step this issue by denying all elementary teachers the right to display photos of their spouses. One in five think that elementary teachers should only be allowed to display pictures of their spouse if the teacher is in a heterosexual marriage.

Majorities of most groups of American adults think schools should allow elementary teachers to display pictures of their spouse, even in the case of same-sex marriages. Even among groups where less than half support this right—including Black Americans, those with less than a high school degree, those with annual family incomes below $30,000, born-again or evangelical Christians, and Republicans—a plurality support the right of elementary teachers in same-sex marriages to display photos of their spouse in the classroom.

As a nationally representative sample with no oversamples this survey is unable to adequately represent the experiences and opinions of smaller groups such as those identifying as LGBTQ, Indigenous Americans, or those affiliating with smaller political parties.

Plutzer notes, “The results show that a substantial plurality of Republicans are at odds with the GOP’s most visible leaders.  When it comes to same sex teachers in an elementary classroom, 41% express a ‘live and let live’ philosophy by endorsing the display of a family photograph by a teacher in a same-sex marriage.”

A majority think it is acceptable for teachers to talk about lesbian, gay and bisexual people – but not to assign books featuring LGB characters

Seven in ten adults think it is acceptable for middle school teachers to have classroom discussions about lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people, but only four in ten think that teachers should assign books with LGB characters. Even fewer, three in ten, think it is acceptable for teachers to assign books with an LGB teen as a main character.

Most large groups of Americans follow the same general pattern observable in the adult U.S. population of as a whole: a majority favor allowing classroom discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, but a minority favor allowing teachers to assign books with lesbian, gay or bisexual characters.

That pattern is especially pronounced among born-again or evangelical Christians. Only 19% in that group think that teachers should be allowed to assign books with LGB characters, and 42% think that teachers should avoid addressing the topic if it comes up in class. Similarly, half of all Republicans think middle school teachers should avoid discussing lesbian, gay or bisexual people in the classroom.

Millennials and Democrats (including independents who lean Democrat) are the only groups in our analysis that included half or more supporting teachers’ ability to assign books with lesbian, gay or bisexual characters. Forty-eight percent of Democrats indicate that middle school English teachers should be allowed to assign books that feature teen-age lesbian, gay or bisexual characters as main characters.

American adults are evenly split on whether teachers should be allowed to use teen students' preferred pronouns

Overall, nearly two in five adults think that school policy should encourage teachers to use preferred pronouns with teen students. A virtually identical proportion think that teachers should be discouraged from using pronouns other than those associated with a student’s sex assigned at birth. The remainder of adults, 23%, think school policy should leave such decisions up to the teacher.

Most large groups of Americans are similarly split on the question of school policy regarding use of preferred pronouns. For example, when taking into account the survey’s margin of error, equivalent proportions of male and female respondents indicate that teachers should be encouraged to adopt the pronouns preferred by teen students.[1] Similarly, about two in five of both parents of children under age 18 and those who do not have children under age 18 think teachers should be encouraged to use teens’ preferred pronouns.

The major demarcations of differences in opinion regarding use of preferred pronouns in the classroom are religiosity and political affiliation. Over half of those who identify as either born-again or evangelical Christian think that school policy should discourage teachers from using preferred pronouns with teen students. An even larger percentage of Republicans, 59%, think teachers should be encouraged to use the pronouns associated with a student’s sex assigned at birth.

Sizeable minorities of both born-again Christians (24%) and Republicans (18%), however, think that teacher should be encouraged to use preferred pronouns.

A majority of Democrats think that school policies should encourage teachers to use the pronouns that teen students prefer for themselves.

Who should influence LGBTQ-related school policies?

The May Mood of the Nation Poll included two questions aimed at understanding who the American public thinks should have the most influence in determining LGBT-related school policy. The first policy question has to do with whether and when schools should encourage discussion of same-sex attraction and LGBTQ people. The second policy question relates to use of preferred pronouns--including he, she and they—in the schools.

In response to both, “parents of children attending public schools” was the group supported by the largest proportion of survey respondents. Approaching half of all respondents felt that parents should have a great deal of influence in shaping school policies related to discussions of LGBQ people as well as how teachers approach the use of pronouns with children in their classrooms.

Teachers were the group that received the next most support from the general public in terms of influencing the two policies. The next tier of support went to local school boards, state departments of education, and local citizens “including those without children attending public schools”. About one in five adults think that each of these three groups should exercise “a great deal of influence” over school LGBTQ-related policies.

The public appears to have least confidence in those elected to state legislatures and governor’s offices, with only about one in seven indicating that those elected officials should have “a great deal of influence” over school policies related to discussion of LGBQ people and use of preferred pronouns.

This general pattern holds for most of the large groups of Americans that we were able to analyze. Especially high proportions of older generations, Black Americans, born-again or evangelical Christians and Republicans think parents should exercise a great deal of influence on school policy related to both discussion of LGBQ people and use of preferred pronouns.

Teachers received especially high support among younger generations, parents, Black and Latino Americans, those with annual family incomes of $100,000 or more and Democrats.

Notably, these results do not appear unique to school policies related to sexual preference and gender identity. The December 2021 Mood of the Nation Poll found very similar results when asking a sample of American adults about how much influence the same list of groups should exercise over how schools should approach teaching about (a) slavery and race, (b) evolution, and (c) sexual education.[1] In each case parents of school children receive the highest support for influencing school policy, followed by Teachers, with state legislatures and governors receiving the least support.

Plutzer notes, “What stands out is that the American people are telling governors and state legislators to butt out of these school controversies, and let things be hashed out by teachers, school boards and parents.”

[1] As a nationally-representative sample with no oversamples this survey is unable to adequately represent the experiences and opinions of smaller groups such as those identifying as nonbinary.

PARTNER FOR THIS SURVEY

The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State promotes scholarship and practical innovations that defend and advance democracy in the United States and abroad. Through teaching, research and public outreach, the Institute leverages the resources of Penn State and partners around the world to foster a model of deliberation, policymaking and responsiveness that is passionate, informed and civil.

The Institute’s Mood of the Nation poll offers a unique approach to public opinion polling. It allows Americans to speak in their own words through open-ended questions that focus on emotions like anger and hope, as well as commitment to constitutional principles.

For earlier findings from our collaboration with the McCourtney Institute, see our Mood of the Nation landing page.

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