Six in 10 Americans Agree That Gay Sex Should Be Legal

[Pookie]

POLL ANALYSES
June 27, 2003

Six in 10 Americans Agree That Gay Sex Should Be Legal
Older Americans least likely to approve

by Frank Newport
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The Supreme Court's decision on Thursday to invalidate a Texas anti-sodomy law is generally in line with the attitudes of the majority of Americans.

About 6 out of 10 Americans believe that homosexual relations between consenting adults should be legal, essentially the Supreme Court's position in its decision in the Lawrence v. Texas case.

Gallup has asked the public about the issue since 1977, and the latest results -- from mid-May of this year -- show that 59% of the public says homosexual relations between consenting adults should be legal, while 37% say they should not be.

Do you think homosexual relations between consenting adults should or should not be legal?

http://www.gallup.com/images/Poll/Releases/pr030627i.gif

There has been a significant shift in public opinion on this issue over the last 26 years. In 1977, when Gallup first asked about the legality of homosexuality, Americans were evenly divided on the issue: 43% said gay and lesbian relations should be legal; 43% said they should not be; and 14% weren't sure.

During the mid-1980s, the percentage saying that homosexual relations should be legal dropped to as low as 33%, most likely due to either widespread publicity surrounding AIDS and its prevalence in the homosexual community, or a more general conservative environment on social matters ushered in by the Reagan administration. As recently as 1988, a clear majority said that homosexual relations between consenting adults should be illegal, but since 2001, the majority has come down on the "legal" side of the issue.

When this legality question is made specific to the issues involved in the Lawrence v. Texas case -- in which police responding to a disturbance complaint arrested two men having sex in their home -- there is little difference in the results compared to the more general legality question:

http://www.gallup.com/images/Poll/Releases/pr030627ii.gif

The entire article with many more graphs/charts can be seen here:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr030627.asp


Discuss ... or not.

 

[SweetCherry]

What 2 consenting adults do within the privacy of their own bedroom should be their own bsiness. If they wanna dress up in hula skirts and coconut bras and greek battle helmets while singing the Mickey Mouse song, they should be able to do it wihtout anyone judging them. OK, admittedly if I found out someone was doing that, I probably WOULD giggle a bit, but hey, it came from my warped mind, so it's GONNA make me giggle.

All joking aside, I don't see what the big deal with gay sex. Do the Joneses down the street really need to worry what Frank and Eric are doing in their home? Or Emily and Kate? It's none of their business, really. Who does it hurt if 2 adults of the same sex decide they want to have sex? Sure as hell not the general public. I think the world just needs a reality check to see that times are changing. Once upon a time it was taboo to be an unwed mother. Now, it's commonplace.

It's just a matter of time now.

 

[Pookie]

A little more from the article ...

Religious behavior, age, geographic location, education, ideology, and partisanship are all related to views on the legality of homosexuality. As can be seen in the table above, Americans who are most religious (as measured by church attendance), older Americans, those living in rural areas and in the South, conservatives, Republicans, and those with lower levels of education are most likely to believe that gay and lesbian relations should be illegal.

 

[Queersetti]

I have three comments on the subject.

1. I am very pleased to see the growing positive trend.

2. Ronald Reagan was a bigoted bastard. He made it quite clear that as long as AIDS was mostly killing gays, he didn't consider it a problem.

3. Those Greek helmets are hot!

 

[SweetCherry]

3. Those Greek helmets are hot!

But would you wear one along with a grass skirt?



I have a thing for gladiator costumes. I thikn they're sexy as hell.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I wonder if the prevalence of gays in the media has anything to do with the changing trends. Prior to the mid 90's, unless you knew gay people personally there was little chance that you would see one in your life.

Just a thought

 

[Gil_Favor]

2. Ronald Reagan was a bigoted bastard. He made it quite clear that as long as AIDS was mostly killing gays, he didn't consider it a problem.

Happen to have a link where he is quoted as saying that?

 

[Svenskaflicka]

The whole idea that someone would make any sort of consensual, between-adults kind of sex illegal is ridiculous! Just what do these narrow-minded schmucks think gives them the right to deicde who gets to love and who doesn't?

What if the shoe was on the other foot? What if it was regarded immoral/unhealthy/unnormal/whatever to be heterosexual, and you would have to either turn to your own sex or risk imprisonment?

Live and let live. Love and let love. Fuck and let fuck.

 

[Pookie]

More of the article ...

The fact that a majority of Americans believe that gay and lesbian relations should be legal does not mean that homosexuality is widely accepted in principle within American society. Indeed, a review of survey research on the topic suggests that there is still significant ambivalence about the overall acceptability of homosexual relations. Substantial numbers of Americans continue to say -- as they have for the past quarter century -- that homosexual relations and a gay and lesbian lifestyle are not morally acceptable.

 

[Gods_Favorite]

I think alot of people are becoming curious about trying male/male sex and female/female sex, which leads to more people accepting it.

 

[Queersetti]

Happen to have a link where he is quoted as saying that?

No, of course not. He refused to address the issue.

He.
Didn't.
Care.