In a follow-up question that probed Americans who are dissatisfied with the current acceptance of gays for their position, 16% of Americans indicate they want to see more acceptance while 14% want less. Another 10% are dissatisfied, but don’t have a preference for whether there should be more or less acceptance.
As the percentage of Americans satisfied with the acceptance of gays and lesbians has increased markedly since the mid-2000s, there has been a much greater drop in the percentage who are dissatisfied and want less acceptance of gays and lesbians, from 30% to 14%, than of those who want more acceptance, 20% to 16%.
The general trend suggests that over time, fewer Americans are dissatisfied because they want less tolerance, and more classify themselves as satisfied. The percentage who are dissatisfied because they want more tolerance has remained fairly stable. This may indicate a broad pattern by which Americans who previously wanted less tolerance of gays and lesbians have become more likely to accept the situation as it is today.
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