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 Americans 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 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.
Should all teachers be able to display photos of spouses?
Over half of American adults believe teachers should be allowed to display photos of their spouse, no matter who it is, in the classroom
One-quarter think school policy should effectively side-step this issue by denying all elementary teachers the right to…
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