A survey has found four in ten people in the UK believe gay sex is ‘unnatural’ and 36 per cent disapprove of gay men becoming parents.
Yeah, you did read that correctly. The YouGov poll, carried out on behalf of PinkNews found out of 1,609 adults – of those who have an opinion – 42 per cent believe gay sex is not natural.
48 per cent of the people in the poll said they believed primary school children should not be taught about gay relationships in class. Meanwhile, 36 per cent of Britons generally disapprove of gay men becoming parents, via surrogacy, adoption, or other methods.
PAAge appeared to be a strong factor in the responses, as over three in four people (78%) aged 18 to 24 said they believed that gay sex was natural, while 69% of those aged 65 and above said they believed gay sex was unnatural.
PinkNews Chief Executive Benjamin Cohen spoke about the findings, calling them ‘depressing’.
It is depressing that 50 years on from the Sexual Offences Act that so many people still think that gay sex is unnatural and that a third oppose gay couples having children.
It is gratifying though to know that for younger people, gay relationships are considered perfectly natural and they strongly support gay parents and teaching young people about gay relationships.
PAThe Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalised same-sex acts between men in England and Wales, though only when both were over the age of 21.
The law then changed in Scotland in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982 – and further equality came in 2000 with the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, which equalised the age of consent for gay and straight couples.
Interestingly, when breaking down the results of the poll, further details emerged…
PAAcross the board, Brexit voters were found to be ‘less progressive’ on gay rights than their Remain counterparts.
The poll found 59 per cent of Brexit supporters believe gay sex is unnatural, compared to 25 per cent of Remainers with that same opinion.
Furthermore, 68 per cent of Brexit voters said they believed children ‘should not be taught’ about gay relationships in primary school, compared to just 29 per cent of Remain voters.
PA50 per cent of Leave voters ‘do not approve of gay men becoming parents’, compared to 78 per cent of Remain voters who do approve.
Mr Cohen said:
It has long been suggested that Brexit supporters would be likely to be anti-LGBT rights but now we know that there is a potential correlation with voting for Brexit and opposing gay rights.
Hey, I got news for you, it’s not unnatural, at all. Love is love.
