Most Parents Accept Lesbians and Gays, Survey Says
by Jon Garbo

Parents who think America’s increasing acceptance of gay people is a good thing outnumber parents who don’t, two-to-one, according to a nationwide opinion survey conducted by Horizons Foundation, a social justice philanthropic organization in San Francisco, CA.

Fifty-six percent of parents call discrimination against gay people "morally wrong."

The survey was conducted in response to the recent string of school shooting tragedies in the United States, which focused national attention on the issue of bullying and harassment in schools. "We’ve really been interested in the issue of kids in relation to bullying and harassment on school campuses," Peter Teague, executive director of Horizons Foundation, told GayHealth.com. "Anti-gay epithets are used more than any other kind. We had the sense that parents hold the key to bullying and harassment."

So last month, Teague and his colleagues surveyed 1,000 American parents throughout the country to determine their level of tolerance and acceptance of gay people. They found "a lot of good news," said Teague. An "unexpectedly high number" of parents -- 76 percent -- said they’d be comfortable talking to their kids about gay and lesbian issues. Furthermore, 71 percent said they’d be comfortable with a close family member who was gay or lesbian, and 79 percent said the same about a coworker. In addition, 56 percent of parents said prejudice and discrimination against gays and lesbians is "morally wrong."

While most parents are comfortable discussing gay issues in a gay-positive manner, 60 percent said they would not discuss the issue unless their child brought it up. Herein lies the problem -- and solution -- to anti-gay taunting in schools: parents need to speak up, and not be "silent in the face of the harassment," said Teague.

Of the parents surveyed, 73 percent were Caucasian, 10 percent African American, 10 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian American. Fifty-six percent of respondents were female, and 60 percent were between the ages of 30 and 44.

In addition, 80 percent identified as Christians, and 24 percent as "born again" Christians, according to the survey. Teague calls the gay-positive sentiment among parents who identify as Christian "encouraging." Even among parents who identified as "born again," there was "a high percentage" who wanted to talk to their kids about tolerance.

"More and more parents are waking up to the fact that it’s anti-gay prejudice that’s the problem, not gay and lesbian people," he added.

The results of the survey will be used to develop strategies to combat bullying and harassment in schools. "Now we’re going to begin some strategies to address the problem. We’re trying to understand what works, what doesn’t work," said Teague.

Updated: Monday, 23 April 2001

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