Majority approve of gay rights, but not men kissing in public

A new survey has revealed that although the majority of Americans support legal rights for gays, far less approve of gay men kissing in public.

Gay rights have taken a huge step forward this year in the US, with a Supreme Court ruling last month (October) paving the way for equal marriage in a further five states, meaning that same-sex marriage is currently legal in 35 out of 50 states.

However, a new survey of 1000 American’s carried out by the American Sociological Review has shown that a large percentage of people still don’t like the idea of gay couples kissing in public spaces.

While 70% of people surveyed said they supported inheritance rights for gay couples, only 55% said they approved of gay men kissing their partner on the cheek in public. This was in contract to the 95% who said they approved of straight couples doing the same. For lesbian couples the figure was 72%.

Even more surprisingly, the study revealed that gay men were more likely to approve of straight couples kissing in public than gay couples.

“This was the most surprising finding in our study,” said the study’s lead author Long Doan. “Initially, it was counterintuitive because we expected gay and lesbian individuals to espouse egalitarian ideas about same-sex couples’ right to express affection in public.”

“However, we believe that gay and lesbian people were less likely to approve of certain same-sex public displays of affection due to safety concerns. Indeed, gay and lesbian individuals are all too aware that same-sex individuals are vulnerable to harassment and hate crimes,” he added.

Meanwhile, a new social experiment has exposed the harassment that effeminately-dressed men can receive on the streets of New York City – watch the shocking video here.

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