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One in three Brits still think being gay is a choice

By Samuel McManus

Almost a third of people in the UK believe homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, a new survey has revealed.

The YouGov study revealed that 31% of Brits think gay men and lesbians choose’ to be homosexual, while 49% of people believe gay people are born that way.

3% of respondents attributed being gay to the way people are raised by their parents, while 17%  said they ‘did not know’.

The poll found that just 16% of Brits between the ages of 18-24 believe that being gay is a choice, compared with 40% for 50-64 year-olds and 34% those aged 65 and over.

People who voted for Labour or the Lib Dems in the 2015 general election were likely to say people are born gay (58% each), while UKIP voters were the most likely to think that being gay is a choice (41%).

The surprising number of people who still believe people choose their sexual orientation reflects a US study from 2014, in which 37% of those surveyed said they believed being LGB was a personal decision.

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