Beth Hurley
SOC 302-01
Dr. Bates
December 13, 2004
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Abstract
Using data from the General Social Survey from 1973 to 2002, changes in American attitudes
toward homosexuality are examined. The analysis supports previous literature by confirming
that attitudes towards homosexuality are liberalizing over time. The dependent variable is
measured two ways: (1) morality of same-sex sexual relations (2) willingness to extend civil
linear regression, directly influence the acceptance of homosexuality and are related to theories
Introduction
This research study examines attitudes towards homosexuality over a time period of three
decades. In recent years issues surrounding homosexuality have been at the center of moral,
political, and religious debates. Most recently the issue of gay marriage has stirred conversation
among Americans. Gay marriage is a particularly interesting issue because those opposed to it
may still be in favor of giving other civil rights to homosexuals. By examining how attitudes
toward homosexuality have changed over the past three decades, one can begin to frame the
permissiveness because it promotes personal choice and tolerance for nonconformity, often
through increased education, by weakening institutional controls over individuals that organized
religion or family could impose (Treas 2002). People with postmaterial and more secular values
have been shown to reject traditional views of family, gender, and sexuality. Generational
replacement and greater educational opportunities increase the acceptance of nonconformity and
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education, secularism, and relative income are all associated with greater tolerance of
homosexuality.
The rejection of traditional views of family, gender, and sexuality are at the heart of the
liberalization of attitudes toward homosexuality. Since the Stonewall Riots in 1969 the gay
rights movement has made incredible strides in changing laws and popular opinion toward the
homosexual community. Their efforts were stymied during the late 1980s due to an
overwhelmingly conservative national attitude and the stigmatization of AIDS and gay men.
Since this time, America as a whole has become increasingly liberal toward homosexuality and
sex in general. Most recently, opinions toward homosexuality and gay marriage have played a
large role in politics and the 2004 presidential election. This research study examines the trend
of opinions toward homosexuality over time and their connectedness to education and increased
Background
In the wake of World War II, rapid social change, the weakening of traditional political
loyalties, and heightened emphasis on personal autonomy conspired to intensify conflict over
cultural values (Wald, Button, and Rienzo 1996). The war and its aftermath induced large
geographical migrations, uprooting people from familiar surroundings, cutting off traditional
patterns of social interaction, and permitting individuals to construct new social identities. This
resulted in long-term ideological adjustments toward sexuality, family, and gender. Whether the
issue is sex education, the availability of birth control, censorship, premarital sex,
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permissive and lenient, the public has moved to new levels of tolerance (Chong 1994).
Greater tolerance for sexual matters reflects shifts in sexual attitudes that began with the
sexual revolution in the mid-1960s and continues to be evident through the decriminalization of
homosexual acts and the widespread availability of sexually explicit material (Treas 2002).
generations differently and can affect how Americans view sexual matters. Materials subject to
censorship differ greatly over time and become excellent indicators of how societal morals
regarding sex and sexuality have changed (Chong 1994). In recent decades, popular
conceptions of what is shocking and risqué in fashion, interpersonal relations, sexual practices,
language, books, magazines, and films have evolved dramatically, as have legal definitions of
what is “obscene.” Media censored decades ago for sex, nudity, and teenage pregnancy are now
has been majority disapproval for long periods of time and throughout the seventies and eighties,
rates of disapproval remained remarkably stable (Yang 1997). By the 1970s, inspired generally
by the atmosphere of social radicalism and specifically by the open resistance of gay men to
police harassment in New York’s Stonewall riots of 1969, countless new lesbian and gay
liberation organizations developed and embraced a call for “gay liberation.” Opposition to
unpopular groups (communists, atheists, and homosexuals) lessened and a greater extension of
civil liberties reflects greater tolerance between 1976-1988 although some opposition to
homosexuals seems to increase (Wilson 1994). By 1996 more than one-fifth of Americans lived
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in cities and counties that provided legal protection to gays, lesbians and bisexuals (Wald,
greater political tolerance over time. Education is responsible for creation, stability, and change
of opinions and attitudes. Golebiowska (1995) finds that the better educated are more tolerant
diversity and politics. One of the reasons for their greater tolerance is that they tend to subscribe
to more modern values, most likely due to changes in sex roles, abortion, and sexual openness in
recent decades.
Besides being more tolerant of sexual nonconformity, people with more schooling are
known to voice greater support for the civil rights of nonconformists (Nunn, Crockett, and
Williams 1978, cited in Treas 2002). Specifically, Loftus (2001) finds that education is the
largest demographic factor accounting for increased support for civil liberties and tolerance for
homosexuals. Both time and education are negatively associated with strict disapproval of
homosexuality, which reflects a move of persons with less schooling closer to the liberal views
of those with more education (Treas 2002). By using statistics gathered from the U.S. Bureau of
the Census in 1990 and 1998, Loftus (2001) determines that an increase was present in the
percentage of adults with at least a college degree as well as a decrease of adults with less than a
Haider-Markel and Meier (1996) find that for a state or local governance to prohibit
discrimination against gays and lesbians, interest group resources, elite values, and past public
policies were important influencing factors. More recently there has been increased public
support for the rights of gays and lesbians in employment and housing, despite little change in
beliefs about the acceptability of homosexuality (Brooks 2000). Frank and McEneaney (1999)
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which they argue favors sex for individual pleasure instead of sex solely for procreation.
Increased individualization and gender equality provide an opportunity for lesbian and gay social
A study by Yang (1997) finds that the percentage of American citizens who believe that
homosexuality is something people are born with has doubled in recent decades. Furthermore,
the proportion of those who believe homosexuality is something people cannot change is now
homosexual relations gradually increased between 1973 and 1988 but dropped significantly by
1998 (Loftus 2001; Treas 2002) while support for their civil liberties has increased since the
early 1970s. Women and citizens with a higher relative income are less likely to disapprove of
same-sex relations.
Treas (2002) finds that frequent attendance at religious services increases the likelihood
homosexuality decreased more greatly than for more religious Americans, although almost all
Americans moved toward less disapproval. The gay rights campaign has historically
encountered the greatest resistance from religious fundamentalists who condemn homosexuality
as contrary to the religious scripture, natural law, and the family (Wald, Button, and Rienzo
1996).
Increased individualization and gender equality provide an opportunity for lesbian and
gay social movements and liberalized state policies on same-sex relations (Frank and
McEneaney 1999). As Lesbian and gay social movements expanded worldwide between 1984
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and 1995, sate policies on homosexual relations liberalized as well. The liberalization of state
policies on homosexual relations is due the recent institutionalization of individualism that has
freed persons from communal, religious, and familial embeddings, and it has undercut gender
differentiation. Gay and lesbian social movements at both the national and international level
According to Gamble (1997) gay men and lesbians have seen their civil rights put to a
popular vote more often than any other group, with more than 60 percent of all civil rights
initiatives involved gay rights issues. Such measures have included efforts to protective gay
rights as well as efforts to repeal gay rights ordinances, remove sexual orientation as a protect
category in housing and employment laws, and to declare homosexuality as, “wrong and
unnatural.” Yet, in the last decade, Americans have become increasingly liberal in their opinions
about civil liberties, including the rights of gays and lesbians (Brooks 2000). Loftus (2001) finds
that Americans distinguish between the morality of homosexuality and the civil liberties of
homosexuals.
opposition to the civil liberties of homosexuals. Therefore, one might expect that people
belonging to groups that frown upon homosexual behavior would be less likely to support gay
rights (Sniderman et al. 1991: 48 citied in Haider-Markel and Meier 1996). However, many
Americans can disapprove of homosexual behavior but still be in support of their civil rights.
Interestingly, the current controversey over gay marriage has many Americans in support of gay
This study replicates previous literature conducted on attitudes toward homosexuality and
builds upon those findings two ways. One, data from the years 2000 and 2002 are now included
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and two, controls for sexual permissiveness are added to determine whether or not the
liberalization of attitudes toward homosexuality is simply a result of greater sexual openness and
tolerance over time. Education’s influence will also be closely examined because of its
To study the change in attitudes towards homosexuality over the last three decades, data
was collected from the General Social Survey (GSS) between 1973 and 2002. Since 1973 the
National Opinion Research Center (NORC) has regularly conducted the GSS. The GSS is a
Approximately 1,500 people were sampled through individual interview every year between
1973 and 1993. Beginning in 1994, sample size increased to 3000 respondents, with the survey
being administered every two years. Questions measuring attitudes towards homosexuality have
In order to examine the research question, four separate hypothesizes were created to
3) Attitudes toward the civil rights of homosexuals have liberalized over time,
controlling for changes in demographics and attitudes.
4) Attitudes toward the civil rights of homosexual have liberalized over time, controlling
for changes in demographics, attitudes, and sexual permissiveness.
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For purposes of this study, attitudes towards homosexuality are operationally defined two
separate ways in order to examine the morality of same-sex sexual relations and the extension of
civil rights to the gay community. Four items measuring attitudes toward homosexuality have
been included in the GSS since 1973. The first is a question asks respondents for their opinion
What about sexual relations between two adults of the same sex---do you think it
is always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at
all?
This item concerning the morality of homosexuality is an ordinal measure coded from one to
four, with “not wrong at all” coded one and “always wrong” coded four.
In order to study Americans’ concern for the civil rights of homosexuals, three separate
items were added to create an index. The wording for these variables is as follows:
And what about a man who admits that he is a homosexual? Suppose this
admitted homosexual wanted to make a speech in your community. Should he be
allowed to speak or not?
Index values range from three to six, with three reflecting greater restriction of civil rights and
six reflecting support of civil rights for homosexuals. This index has an alpha of .72, indicating
The two dependent variables presented in this research offer two different ways of
measuring attitudes toward homosexuality. In truth, they measure two entirely different aspects
of the same overreaching concept. The question HOMOSEX measures attitudes about the
morality of sexual intercourse between to members of the same sex. The variables LIBHOMO,
COLHOMO, and SPKHOMO examine the civil liberties of a marginalized group, rather than the
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sexual behavior of homosexuals. Because the dependent variables measure two different things,
it is easy to see why a majority of the American public continues to view homosexuality as
wrong while concurrently increasing support for civil rights for homosexuals.
time, measured by the year that the survey was administered. Additional control variables
include four demographic variables, three attitudinal variables, and three sexual permissiveness
variables. Demographics are measured by respondents’ education, income, region, and sex.
Education is an ordinal measure indicating the highest degree attained by the respondent.
Income is coded dichotomously to reflect incomes greater or less then $20,000 a year. The
variable measuring region is also coded dichotomously to reflect the recent political division of
the country into “red” and “blue” states. Therefore region is recoded to indicate blue states’
(coded one) regions: Pacific, New England, Middle Atlantic, and East-North Central.
Conversely, red states’ region (coded two) includes: West North Central, South Atlantic, East
This study selects three separate variables for attitudinal controls, a measure of political
liberalness and two separate measures of religiosity. Political liberalism versus conservatism is
an ordinal measure, coded one to seven, with one being “extremely liberal” and seven being
measure, one-three, with responses ranging from “a great deal” of confidence, to “hardly any.”
“strong,” “not very strong,” or “somewhat strong,” in their religion or have no religion. Again,
an ordinal level measure, “strong” is coded one and no religion is coded four.
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measured with three items: support for sex education in public schools, acceptability of
premarital sex, and acceptability of extramarital sex. Support for sex education in public schools
is coded dichotomously, allowing for responses of “oppose” (coded one) or “favor” (coded two).
Additionally, attitudes toward premarital sex and extramarital sex are coded exactly the same,
reflecting the degree to which the respondent finds such an act wrong. Answers reflect an
increasing level of acceptance, with answers coded one to four beginning with “always wrong”
Before linear regression was utilized, univariate analysis was conducted on every variable to
determine the normality. If the variable was not normally distributed, that variable was recoded
to best standardize the data. Bivariate correlation analyses were run on all independent variables
to determine which variables if any were too highly correlated with one another and therefore
Results:
From 1972 to 2002 attitudes toward the morality of homosexuality have liberalized
greatly, see Figure 1. Attitudes liberalized during the mid-1970s and reached its most
conservative point during 1987. Since 1990 positive attitudes toward homosexuality have
increased greatly. This trend is similar to the measure of civil rights of homosexuals because of
liberalization, except this trend has increased positively since 1973. Table 1 summarizes the
results of all four hypotheses on attitudes towards homosexuality and the willingness of
Figure 1. Opinions of the Morality of Homosexuality on Year: General Social Survey 1973-2002
2.4
2.2
MeMorality of Homosexuality
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1973 1976 1980 1984 1987 1989 1991 1994 1998 2002
1974 1977 1982 1985 1988 1990 1993 1996 2000
MODEL I
Hypothesis 1:
The results of hypothesis one do not support the liberalization of attitudes towards
toward the morality of homosexuality became slightly more conservative. In this model,
controls for education, confidence in organized religion, strength of religious affiliation, political
views, region, and sex were all significant. Income was the only control variable not significant
to the model. Education had the largest standardized coefficient of .222, indicating its
importance to the attitudes toward homosexuality, even though attitudes remain conservative.
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Hypothesis 2:
The results show that there is strong support for hypothesis two, that when controls for
sexual permissiveness are added, the coefficient for year increases (.011 to .016) as well as the
adjusted R square (.189 to .271). As seen in Table 1, the direction of association reverses from
hypothesis one to hypothesis two. Thus, when controlling for the increased openness of
American society to sex and sexual permissiveness, opinions of the morality of homosexuality
have liberalized over time largely due to the liberalization of sex. Education again was the most
important control variable in this model. Strength of religious affiliation and region have a great
permissiveness, extra-marital sex has the greatest relationship with changing ideas of morality of
homosexuality.
MODEL II
Hypothesis 3:
This model examines attitudes toward extending civil rights to homosexuals and found
that over time more Americans wish to extend civil liberties to homosexuals than do Americans
who wish to restrict them. This finding again supports the over arching research question of has
attitudes liberalized toward homosexuals over the past three decades. When controlling for only
attitudes, such as political views and religiosity, and demographics, including education, income,
region, and sex, the relationship between year and extension of civil rights is highly significant.
religion and region shows no affect. Only in hypothesis three does there appear to be no
Hypothesis 4:
The results of linear regression for hypothesis four suggest that, although the model is
again significant, its significance is not due to year but instead due to the influence of the control
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variables. When using all control variables, year, strength of religious affiliation, and sex do not
significantly affect the likelihood of Americans to want to extend civil rights to homosexuals.
Controls #1
Education (highest .235* .172* .081* .073*
degree)
Confidence in .125* .057* .162* .013*
organized religion
Strength of religious .268* .125* .054* .032
affiliation
Income .014 .030* .050* .056*
Political Views -.174* -.071* -.038* -.027*
Region (Red vs. -.229* -.150* -.103 -.081*
Blue States)
Sex .137* .023* .053* .030
Controls #2
Sex education in - .049* - .138*
public schools
Extra-marital sex - .331* - .037*
Pre-marital sex - .194* - .074*
Discussion:
This study substantiates previous literature by confirming the relationship between year
and the liberalization of attitudes toward homosexuality. However, although the trends are the
same, several variables were operationalized in very different ways, which most likely affected
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the differences in significance between the two studies. In Loftus (2001) education is measured
by number of years, instead of highest degree earned and religious affiliation is examined, while
this study looks directly at the affects of religiosity and confidence in religious institutions.
Income is measured in this study while it is absent from Loftus’ study. Political views is
presented as a scale, instead of a dichotomous variable, and race, nationality, rural or urban,
attitudes toward civil rights for atheists and communists, and age are not controlled for or
examined.
One of most significant differences between Loftus and this study is how region is
measured. Loftus examines attitudes separately within several regions of the country while for
purposes of this study, a more contemporary view is measured. Due to political debate in the
2004 Presidential election, region was coded dichotomously into two groups, “red” and “blue”
states. Red states are states with Republican affiliation while blue states are more Democratic.
One of the central issues of this year’s election was gay marriage. Because of region’s affect on
the likelihood to grant marriage to gay couples, considered a civil rights issue to many, region
was examined for this purpose. Democratic states were thus not surprisingly more liberal toward
Education and sexual permissiveness are both significant influences on the liberalization
of attitudes toward homosexuality over time. As seen between hypotheses one and two and in
both models, controls for sexual permissiveness are largely responsible for liberalization. While
attitudes toward homosexuality have remained relatively constant and conservative over time,
toward the gay community, both through morality and civil rights.
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Between 1973 and 2002 America has greatly liberalized their attitudes toward
homosexuality. Only during the late 1980s did attitudes towards homosexuality become more
conservative. It is not unlikely that this decline was significantly impacted by two historical
factors: Ronald Reagan’s administration and the onset of the AIDS crisis. Ronald Reagan and
his terms in office are characterized by a strong sense of “family values” that are not in support
of homosexuals or homosexuality. At the same time, AIDS was first discovered at this time and
socially labeled “the gay man’s disease.” AIDS helped to stigmatized the homosexual
community and heighten fears of homosexuals. Since 1991 there has not been a decline in
approval of homosexuality, with each year henceforth more liberal than the last.
The variables used to create an index measuring attitudes towards homosexuality through
concern for civil liberties produce a negative bias against homosexuals because of the wording of
the questions. The questions focus on male homosexuals and respondents may react differently
to male and female homosexuals, something that is not captured by these questions (Loftus
2001). While the GSS is the only national survey to ask questions concerning homosexuality
over such a great time period, the wording of the questions cannot be changed because it would
prohibit accurate, longitudinal comparisons. Furthermore, the bimodal distribution of the GSS
It is unfortunate that the GSS has not consistently asked its own question about
homosexual marriage through the years of the survey. Understanding how the liberalization of
homosexuality over the past three decades will continue to impact the future is directly relevant
to the public controversy over gay marriage. Furthermore, gay marriage may greatly influence
the direction of civil rights policies and constitutional protections. What is most interesting in
the debate over gay marriage is that even those in favor of gay rights may find that gay marriage
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threatens the institution and tradition of marriage and are therefore not in favor of such
legislation.
Increases in sexual permissiveness and education are responsible for more positive
attitudes toward the gay community. However, further research should be conducted to
understand the relationship that changing gender ideologies and sex roles have played in the
liberalization toward homosexuality. Kane and Schippers (1996) argue that compulsory
countries, such as the United States. It is responsible for the construction of gender inequality,
asserts male dominance through contempt for homosexuality, particularly through heterosexual
men. Most studies find a significant, positive association between traditional gender role
attitudes and intolerance toward homosexuality. Fitting with generational replacement theories,
equal men and women in society provide opportunity for social movements; specifically gender
equality influences gay/lesbian social movements (Frank and McEneaney 1999). Thus,
increased gender equality, sexual permissiveness, and higher levels of education support this
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