MOSCOW, November 20 (Sputnik) — A US study has found that American public attitudes to homosexuality are not as liberal as recent legislation allowing same-sex marriage has claimed.
"Support for legal benefits for gays and lesbians should not be conflated with favorable attitudes toward same-sex couples in general," the lead author of the study, Long Doan, said. "We come to the conclusion that although heterosexuals may be increasingly willing to grant legal benefits to gay and lesbian couples, entrenched prejudice that takes on subtler forms may remain."
Researchers at Indiana University’s Department of Sociology asked respondents for their responses to hypothetical scenarios, to test and compare their reaction to unmarried heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples. After reading the scenarios, the participants were asked questions about their perception of the couple, including about whether they should be granted legal rights, or be allowed to engage in a public display of affection.
When heterosexual respondents were given a scenario and asked for their responses about inheritance rights, 70% supported such rights for the unmarried heterosexual couple, 69% for the gay couple, and 73% for the lesbian couple.
However, when given a scenario about public displays of affection, there was a marked difference in attitudes. Among heterosexual respondents, 95% approved of the heterosexual couple kissing on the cheek, 55% approved of the gay couple doing the same, and 72% for the lesbian couple.
In the past few years, the US media has published a series of polls illustrating that public support for gay marriage is rising. A Gallop poll in 2011 showed support at above 50% for the first time, followed by a further rise to 53% the next year. In May this year the pollsters recorded 55% public support for gay marriage. In spite of that, this latest research concludes that Americans are not as tolerant as such media reports suggest.
"We found that, for the most part, heterosexuals are equally as supportive of legal benefits for same-sex couples as they are for heterosexual couples, but are much less supportive of public displays of affection for same-sex couples than they are for heterosexuals," Doan concluded.
In a surprising finding, the study also revealed that “in some cases, gays and lesbians are less supportive of same-sex couples engaging in PDAs than they are of heterosexual couples partaking in the same behavior.” Doan attributed this to the awareness among gay and lesbian individuals of their vulnerability to harassment and hate crimes.
