Public More Accepting of Gays, Poll Finds

WASHINGTON — Americans feel increasingly comfortable in the presence of gay people and believe they deserve stronger legal protection, even though a majority continues to consider homosexuality morally repugnant, a new Los Angeles Times Poll shows.

The shift appears to track two major developments: An increasing number of gay men and lesbians are open about their sexual orientation, and gay rights has evolved into a broad social movement. Discussions of gay life and attitudes have even entered the popular media, with television situation comedies dealing openly with the subject.

Today, 73% of Americans say they know someone who is openly gay. In 1983, by contrast, just 30% said they knew a gay person.

Similarly, Americans’ sense of comfort around gays has increased significantly. In 1985, only 40% of survey respondents said they were comfortable around gay men or lesbians. Today, 60% say that.

There is strong support now for anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians. Fully 68% support protection from job discrimination, and 66% support protection from housing discrimination.

In keeping with the support for anti-discrimination laws, 50% also support giving gay and lesbian couples the same benefits enjoyed by married couples, such as inheritance rights, the right to employer-provided health benefits and tax breaks.

And when it comes to gay marriage, Americans are clearly uncomfortable. Just 34% support allowing gay men and lesbians to marry, compared to 58% who oppose it.

Overall, Americans still find a homosexual lifestyle troubling. Nearly two-thirds of respondents--64%--say they think sexual relations between two people of the same sex is generally wrong. Similarly, 36% say they would be very upset if they found out their son or daughter is gay or lesbian, and 37% would be somewhat upset. Fifteen years ago, an overwhelming 90% of survey respondents said they would be upset in those circumstances.

The Times Poll, supervised by Susan Pinkus, surveyed 2,071 adults June 8 through Tuesday. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.