The proportion of people in Scotland who think that same-sex sexual relationships are always or mostly wrong has fallen to 18% - its lowest level ever
The proportion of people in Scotland who think that same-sex sexual relationships are always or mostly wrong has fallen to 18% - its lowest level ever.
That’s according to the 2015 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, published today by the Scottish Government.
It shows that public opinion on this issue has changed very rapidly.
Previous social attitudes surveys found that in 2000, 48% thought that same-sex relationships were always or mostly wrong. By 2005 that had dropped to 40%, and in 2010 the figure was 27%.
The majority of people in Scotland respect and value equally their lesbian, gay and bisexual neighbours
The proportion of Scots who would be unhappy at a close relative forming a long-term same-sex relationship has also fallen fast, from 30% in 2010, to only 16% now.
Attitudes vary a great deal by age – only 3% of people under 30 would now be unhappy about this.
Hannah Pearson, policy coordinator at the Equality Network, said: “We very much welcome the continued increase in the majority of people in Scotland who respect and value equally their lesbian, gay and bisexual neighbours.
“Attitudes have changed very fast, and we think that’s in part due to the leadership shown by successive Scottish governments in promoting equality in the law. It’s also because a lot more people have come out. People are less likely to hold discriminatory attitudes if they have a friend or family member they know is lesbian, gay or bisexual.
“Only 15% of Scots now say they don’t know anyone lesbian or gay.”
Attitudes towards transgender people have also improved significantly in the past five years, but still have much further to go.
The proportion of Scots who would be unhappy if a close relative formed a long-term relationship with someone who has undergone gender reassignment has dropped from 49% in 2010, to 32% in 2015.
On this question, transgender people are still the group facing the most negative attitudes.
More positively, only 13% of people under 30 would be unhappy about this. The proportion of Scots who felt that a transgender person would not be suitable to be a primary school teacher fell from 31% in 2010 to 20% in 2015.
James Morton, manager of the Scottish Transgender Alliance, said: “We are glad to see confirmation that prejudice towards trans people has fallen. Trans people remain the social group which the largest minority of people in the Social Attitudes Survey would be unhappy to see join their family.
“However, it is heartening to see much more positive views amongst younger people, and we look forward to the change in attitudes towards trans people continuing.”
Tim Hopkins, Equality Network director, added: “In the Scottish LGBT Equality Report which we published last year, LGBT people identified negative social attitudes as a top issue.
“Although, as the Social Attitudes Survey shows, views towards the LGBTI community in Scotland have greatly improved over the years, many LGBTI people still face practical discrimination, and hate crime perpetrated by a small minority. More needs to be done to combat this.”
