Big shift in public tolerance of gays

Gays and lesbians have experienced a dramatic rise in acceptance over the last two decades, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll.

Almost seven in 10 Americans know someone who is gay or lesbian and say they would not be troubled if their elementary school-age child had a homosexual teacher. Six in 10 say they are sympathetic to the gay community, displaying an increasing inclination to view same-sex issues through a prism of societal accommodation rather than moral condemnation.

On questions ranging from job discrimination to adoption to whether homosexuality is morally wrong, responses indicate that as gays and lesbians have become more open, heterosexuals in return have become more open toward them.

The change has come within one generation. In two Times Polls in the mid-1980s and other data from the same era, the level of sympathy toward gays and lesbians was half what it is today.

"The stigma of being gay is disappearing," said Gary Gates, a demographer at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. "This is a huge change. Gay people in general are feeling more comfortable in society — and society is feeling more comfortable with gay people."

The fact that 69 percent of those polled by The Times said they know a gay or lesbian — up from 46 percent in 1985 — is particularly significant, Gates said. "Being gay is no longer an abstraction. It’s my friend, my neighbor, my brother, my office-mate."

The Times Poll showed that women tended to be slightly more sympathetic toward gays and lesbians than men, and the survey affirmed a polarization that puts liberals and conservatives at opposite ends of a broad spectrum.

The poll also found a profound gulf in attitudes between older and younger Americans. Compared to those over 65, respondents between 18 and 29 were so much more favorably disposed toward gays and lesbians that, Gates said, over time, "Many of these issues are simply not going to be issues any longer."

But resistance remains in some areas.

A slim majority of people surveyed opposed same-sex marriage, an issue that has driven the subject of homosexual rights to the forefront as Massachusetts prepares to allow gays and lesbians to marry next month.

The poll produced a variety of strong responses that reflect expanding acceptance of gays and lesbians: