In keeping up with the Human Rights Campaign’s “On the Road to Equality” Bus Tour, this weekend the bus arrived in Nebraska, where it will make two stops. The first stop is currently in Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, and the state capitol of Lincoln, where it will arrive on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus on August 21st.
As with the other states the tour will be visiting, Nebraska has no laws which protect its gay, lesbian and transgender population. Nebraskans also voted to amend their constitution in 2000 to define marriage between one man and one woman.
However, since that time, Nebraska’s views on the gay community have changed. According to the HRC, a solid majority of Nebraskans supports discrimination protections against LGBT people in employment, public and housing accommodations at 73%. In Omaha alone, this number is even higher at 78%. Support for anti-bullying measures in also in the majority at 73%, and in continuing the presence of the number 73, that is the percentage of Nebraskans who believe that discrimination against gays and lesbians is a problem in our country.
And while Nebraska still has a slim majority who oppose gay marriage at 51% versus support at 42%, in Omaha that number drops to 40% while support rises to 54%.
Those numbers have led some to be a bit skeptical, such as Dave Bydalek, of Family First, which helped campaign for the 2000 constitutional amendment. Mr. Bydalek said, “While there no doubt has been some sort of change in attitude, I would be skeptical of such wholehearted reversal”.
Perhaps Mr. Bydalek has failed to take into account the drastic shift in public opinion over the last decade? Whatever the reason may be though, one thing is clear, it appears that much like Utah, Nebraska also has strong support in discrimination protections for the gay community.
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