CBS Poll: With Higher Visibility, Less Disapproval For Gays

[racaulk]

Poll: With Higher Visibility, Less Disapproval For Gays

Seventy-seven percent of Americans now say they know someone who is gay or lesbian, a new CBS News poll finds - an increase of 35 percentage points since 1992, when a majority of Americans said they did not.

More than six in ten Americans say they have a close friend, work colleague or relative who is gay or lesbian. Just 22 percent say they do not know anyone at all who falls into that category.

The increasing visibility of gay and lesbian Americans appears to have contributed toward more positive perceptions of homosexual relations. Forty-three percent of Americans currently see homosexual relations between consenting adults as "wrong" - a drop of 19 percentage points from a Gallup poll taken in 1978.

There has been a slight decrease in the percentage of Americans who do not object to homosexual relations compared to January of last year, when 54 percent said they are not wrong. But nearly half (48 percent) still say they see nothing wrong with homosexual relations, an increase of 23 points from the 1978 poll.

<---snip--->


Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20007144-503544.html

Much more can be found at the link above, and you can see the complete poll here: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/poll_gays_lesbians_060910.pdf

Not surprising, but encouraging nonetheless. :hi:


Edited for clarity.

[Demoiselle]

1. Years and years ago, Harvey Milk had a great slogan:

"Come out, come out, whatever you are!"

I was struck by how wise he was. The more people you know of any "variety," the more real faces you can attach to a label, the less the label itself matters.
Or so it seems to me.
Encouraging news.

[racaulk]

3. Agreed.

I think Milk was wise beyond his years, and his lesson about increased visibility is still true today. I would say the proof of the effectiveness of that strategy is evident in these poll results.

Also, the more gay people you know, the harder it is for the religious right to scare you with the misinformation and fear they spread about gay people. It's easier to ignore and intellectually dissect that hysteria when it is directed at someone you know personally.

:hi:

[MineralMan]

2. Yes. Familiarity does not necessarily breed contempt.

Often, it breeds acceptance.

[racaulk]

4. Kick

:kick:

[Solly Mack]

5. Cure the ignorance, cure the fear.

Won't help much with entrenched hate but it does go a long way with ignorance.