Since then, support has steadily increased. By 2010, the proportions endorsing First Amendment rights regarding homosexuality had grown to 86% for speech, 84% for teaching, and 78% against censorship.
 

View Graph

Since 1993, however, responses to this item have shifted dramatically. The proportion saying homosexual behavior is "always wrong" began to decline, dropping to 54% in 1998 and 53% in 2002, rising slightly to 57% in 2004, but subsequently continuing to drop. In 2010, for the first time, a plurality of respondents said same-sex sexual relations are never wrong or wrong only sometimes.

Any interpretation of responses to this item must acknowledge the response bias invited by its wording: The question's phrasing strongly suggests that homosexual relations are wrong to at least some extent. Data from other surveys (e.g., the Gallup poll) with differently worded items assessing the morality of homosexual behavior, however, are consistent with responses to the GSS item.
 

View Graph

By 1996, however, the gap had closed to only 6 percentage points. In that year, the proportion of respondents who did not consider homosexuality an acceptable alternative lifestyle dropped to 50% – approximately the same as in 1982. By contrast, the proportion regarding homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle increased substantially to 44%.

The trend continued. By May of 2003, 54% considered homosexuality an acceptable lifestyle, compared to 43% who regarded it as unacceptable.

A few months later, however, the proportion of Gallup respondents who did not consider homosexuality an acceptable lifestyle increased for the first time in a decade. In a survey conducted in late July of 2003, 49% of those surveyed felt that homosexuality was unacceptable, compared to 46% who felt it was acceptable. That survey was conducted shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled state sodomy laws unconstitutional in the case of Lawrence v. Texas.

The reversal was temporary. In 2007, and again in 2008, a solid majority (57%) considered homosexuality acceptable.
 

View Graph

One of the most remarkable changes has been in the proportion of Americans who feel homosexuals should be hired as elementary school teachers: It has grown from 27% in 1977, to 41% in 1992, to 54% in 2005.
 

View Graph

In the mid-1980s, however, the trend sharply reversed, probably due in part to public concerns about the new epidemic of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which, in the United States, disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men. (Most AIDS cases reported worldwide, however, were traced to heterosexual intercourse.) In 1986, for example, only 32% supported legalizing homosexual relations whereas 57% opposed it. 1986 was also the year in which the United States Supreme Court's Bowers v. Hardwick ruling upheld the right of states to enact sodomy laws. (The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and American Public Health Association jointly filed an amicus brief opposing such laws and explaining that they would be likely to impede AIDS prevention efforts.)
 

In the 1990s, public opinion about consensual same-sex relations fluctuated, with a plurality of Americans favoring legalization in 1992 (48% to 44%), but a a plurality opposing it in 1996 (47% to 44%). In 1999, 50% of Gallup respondents favored legalization, compared to 43% who opposed it. By 2001, 54% favored legalization while 42% opposed it.

In June of 2003, in the case of Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court overturned its 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision and ruled that the Texas sodomy law was unconstitutional. Around the time of that ruling, a Gallup poll found that 60% favored legalization of same-sex relations, compared to 35% who opposed legalization.

Subsequent polls, however, suggested that attitudes in this area were in flux; several showed increased opposition to legalizing same-sex relations. Interpreting the polls is difficult, in part, because the national debate about same-sex marriage grew in intensity during this period. Interpretation of terms like "same-sex relations" and "homosexual relations" may have been influenced by this debate. Instead of understanding them to refer to sexual behavior, some respondents may have begun to equate these terms with committed same-sex relationships.

In the last half of 2003, it appeared that the public was closely divided in its response to poll questions about whether "homosexual relations between consenting adults" should or should not be legal. By the spring of 2004, however, a clear majority favoring legalization was observed once again, and that majority has subsequently grown. In 2007, nearly 6 respondents in 10 believed consenting homosexual conduct should be legal, and by 2011 64% expressed that opinion.
 

Blog   |   Contents   |   Publications   |   Library   |   Site Search   |   Contact Us   |   Useful Links   |   Social Psych Net