Ipsos LGBT+ Pride Report for 2026 Now Available
Ipsos, one of the world’s largest market research and polling organisations, has released its 2026 LGBT+ Pride Report, a 26-country survey of more than 19,000 adults.
The Australian results from the study form part of a broader picture in which support for core lesbian and gay rights remains comparatively solid, while backing for key transgender policies stays low. Continuing to bundle the two under a single “LGBT+” banner risks undermining the hard-won gains of same-sex attracted Australians.
The report shows that in Australia, support for same-sex unions has fallen substantially over the last twelve months on the back of the forced conflation of transgender issues with LGB rights. In 2026, 71 per cent of Australians supported LGB people to get married or have legal recognition of their relationships, down from 79 per cent in 2025. By comparison in 2026, 85 per cent of people in the Netherlands, 85 per cent of people in Spain and 79 per cent of people in Sweden support the same. Australia had consistently ranked among the more supportive nations on this measure but has fallen.
These numbers matter on the ground here. The Lesbian Action Group’s long campaign to hold events for lesbians born female, and the Federal Court litigation involving the women-only app Giggle for Girls, have shown how gender-identity has overshadowed the sex-based rights that lesbians and gay men rely on. When “inclusion” means males in lesbian spaces or women’s sporting categories, ordinary Australians notice and it harms LGB people.
The Ipsos data reflect this reality: while majorities continue to support protection from discrimination for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, only a small minority endorse policies that erase sex-based boundaries. Support for transgender athletes competing according to gender identity rather than biological sex stands at only 22 per cent across 23 countries, unchanged from 2025 and down from 32 per cent in 2021. Opposition is now the dominant view in almost every country surveyed, including Australia.
Australians are not rejecting gay rights because they are unkind or unaccepting people. Persistent messaging from rainbow organisations that group LGB rights with transgender issues mean ordinary people are conflating of same-sex attraction with gender identity ideology. This is now showing up in the data to the detriment of LGB people.
Complete separation is essential and we now have the data to prove it. LGB people in Australia must be free to organise around same-sex attraction without being required to adopt gender-identity demands. Single-sex spaces, sports categories and association rights based on biological sex need clear legal protection, distinct from transgender claims.
Only by drawing this line can the solid public support for LGB people in Australia be preserved rather than eroded by association with far less popular causes.
The full report is available at: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2026-07/ipsos-lgbt-plus-pride-surey-report-2026.pdf