Age differences in American acceptance of gay rights

Acceptance of Gay Rights: A Survey Analysis

Opinions and values of a society change over time. This has been seen in many areas of sociological research. One such area is in gay rights. According to data from the General Social Surveys, Americans have become more accepting in general of gay rights over the past 30 years. Many people now feel that homosexual sex is not wrong and that homosexuals should have the right to marry, to make public speeches, to be a college teacher or professor, and to have books in favor of homosexuality available at the public library. However, these general viewpoints vary by age group.

Right to Marry

From Table 1, it can be seen that there is a statistically significant difference of opinion between age groups regarding the right of homosexuals to marry. While less than one-half of the 18- to 35-year-old age group disagree, over two-thirds of the 57- to 90-year-olds disagree that homosexuals should be married (and about 55% of 36- to 56-year-olds disagreed). Therefore, younger people are notably more accepting of gay rights in this regard.

Table 1

Cells contain:

Column percent

(N of cases)

Age Group

18-35

36-56

57-90

Row Total

Do you agree or disagree? Homosexuals should have the right to marry one another.

1: Strongly agree

16.5 (303)

12.1 (278)

7.6 (127)

12.2 (708)

2: Agree

21.1 (388)

17.7 (406)

14.1 (236)

17.8 (1030)

3: Neither agree or disagree

15.5 (286)

14.3 (328)

10.8 (180)

13.7 (794)

4: Disagree

16.2 (299)

19.8 (454)

21.7 (363)

19.2 (1116)

5: Strongly disagree

30.7 (564)

36.0 (823)

45.7 (763)

37.1 (2150)

Column Total

(1840)

100.0 (2289)

100.0 (1669)

100.0 (5798)

Means

3.24

3.50

38.4

3.51

Statistical Summary

Chisq-P (8)=164.89, p=0.00

Right to Speak

Table 2 shows that most people think that an admitted homosexual should be allowed to make a speech. However, it also shows that 57- to 90-year-olds more often (and about twice as often as those from other age groups) would not allow a homosexual to make a speech in his/her community. There is little difference, however, between 18- to 35-year-olds and 36- to 56-year-olds.

Table 2

Cells contain:

Column percent

(N of cases)

Age Group

18-35

36-56

57-90

Row Total

Should an admitted homosexual be allowed to make a speech in your community?

1: Allowed

81.1

(8915)

79.1 (9106)

61.5 (5146)

75.0 (23167)

2: Not Allowed

18.9 (2081)

20.9 (2407)

38.5 (3226)

25.0 (7714)

Column Total

100.0 (10996)

100.0 (11513)

100.0 (8372)

100.0 (30881)

Means

1.19

1.21

1.39

1.25

Statistical Summary

Chisq-P (2)=1137.68, p=0.00

Right to Teach

From Table 3, it can be seen that there is a drastic difference of opinion between the oldest age group and the other two age groups. Less than one-half of the respondents in the 57- to 90-year-old category thought that a homosexual should be allowed to teach in college or university. This is contrasted with less than 30% of either of the other two groups (with less than one-quarter of the youngest group feeling that homosexuals should be banned from teaching college).

Table 3

Cells contain:

Column percent

(N of cases)

Age Group

18-35

36-56

57-90

Row Total

Should an admitted homosexual be allowed to teach college or university?

4: Allowed

75.6 (8247)

70.1 (7995)

49.0 (4093)

66.3 (20335)

5: Not Allowed

24.4 (2663)

29.9 (3405)

51.0 (4256)

33.7 (10324)

Column Total

100.0 (10910)

100.0 (11400)

100.0 (8349)

100.0 (30659)

Means

4.24

4.30

4.51

4.34

Statistical Summary

Chisq-P (2)=1612.33, p=0.00

Right to Have Published Book in Public Library

When responding to whether a homosexual should have his book removed from a community's public library, significantly more people from the 57- to 90-year-old group felt the book should be removed than did other groups (Table 4). Over one-half of the oldest group thought the book should be removed, but less than one-third of other groups had the same opinion.

Table 4

Cells contain:

Column percent

(N of cases)

Age Group

18-35

36-56

57-90

Row Total

Should an admitted homosexual have his book in favor of homosexuality removed from a public library?

1: Remove

26.1 (2858)

30.5 (3492)

50.2 (4257)

34.4 (10605)

2: Not Remove

73.9 (8068)

69.5 (7968)

49.8 (4215)

65.6 (20251)

Column Total

100.0 (10924)

100.0 (11460)

100.0 (8472)

100.0 (30856)

Means

1.74

1.70

1.50

1.66

Statistical Summary

Chisq-P (2)=1351.78, p=0.00

Chisq-P (6)=164.14, p=0.00

While opinion has changed over the years, from the data provided here, it can be seen that it is the opinions of the younger generations that have changed. The oldest group is the least accepting of gay rights. However, there was not very much difference between the opinions of the younger two groups (18-35 and 36-56). However, across all the data, the youngest group appears to be the most accepting of gay rights (but often by just a few percentage points, which, given the sample sizes, may be analytically insignificant).