Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Curry, Beth A

Titel

Differences in attitudes of tolerance/condemnation towards lesbians and gay males

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

1996

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Recent estimates indicated that lesbians and gay males comprise between 4 and 17 percent of the general population (Fassinger, 1991; Morgan & Nerison, 1993). As lesbians and gay males have increasingly "come out" and identified themselves, they have formed numerous gay rights groups and movements to demand an end to the long standing public condemnation of their lifestyle. Existing research is insufficient in predicting groups that will be tolerant or more condemning of lesbians and gay males. Previous studies have focused on attitudes toward homosexuals in general, with the respondents tending to view homosexuals as gay men. The present study examined the attitudes of tolerance/condemnation of males and females toward lesbians and gay males. 267 females and 84 male completed the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale (Herek, 1994). Results indicated that females were more condemning than males, with both groups having more tolerant attitudes toward lesbians. Gender interacted with attitudes when the respondent knew a lesbian or gay male. The variables of religious affiliation, political ideology, and ethnic background contributed significantly in predicting condemning attitudes toward lesbians, while the variables of age, religious affiliation, political ideology, and ethnic background contributed significantly in predicting condemning attitudes toward gay males. These results provide important information in respect to differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay males. It is clear that the use of the transgender approach in extrapolating data about gay males to the lesbian population is unwarranted and further examination of this issue is needed. It was also shown that, although there are some similarities in the way lesbians and gay males are viewed, there were enough differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay males to discern that lesbians and gay males are perceived differently by females and males. This, of course, must be tempered by the unexpected finding that female respondents were more condemning of both lesbians and gay males than male respondents. Of added importance is the finding that respondents who knew a lesbian or gay males were significantly more tolerant of both lesbians and gay males.