THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON PUBLIC-ATTITUDES TOWARD HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS IN BRITAIN

Controversy concerning the issue of homosexual rights and practices ha s intensified in Britain over the last decade. Despite this increase i n intensity, however, the question of mass public opinion in relation to homosexual rights and practices has received almost no empirical in vestigation. In an effort to remedy this situation, this article focus es on both the role of respondents' gender as well as their perception s concerning the gender of participants in a homosexual relationship ( both sexes versus gay men) in distinguishing their attitudes toward th e public acceptance of homosexuals and the adoption rights of lesbians and gay men. Using nationally representative data from the British So cial Attitudes Surveys, we found that, whereas both respondents' gende r and the gender of participants in a homosexual relationship demonstr ated a significant influence on attitudes toward the public acceptance of homosexuals, they were unrelated to the adoption rights of lesbian s or gay men. Even in relation to the public acceptance of homosexuals , however, gender was not the only, or even the most important, attrib ute in distinguishing individual opinion in this instance. Other stron ger and more consistent influences were education, age, and attitudes toward either pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relations. The impli cations of these findings for both policy makers and homosexual activi sts are discussed.