Do Views Toward Homosexuality Differ Based on Ethnicity? An Empirical Study of United States Opinion

Abstract

Homosexuality is generally viewed negatively. That is certainly the case in the Jewish and Christian holy books as well as the Quran, although opinions differ as to interpretation. The practice has been condemned by these religions. An Imam in Orlando, Florida, the site of the mass murder of homosexuals, has gone so far as to say that killing homosexuals would be the compassionate thing to do.

It is not the purpose of this paper to review the history of homosexuality, or the pros and cons or moral standing of the practice. Readers can obtain that information by reading the items listed in the reference section of this paper. The goal of this study is more limited, to determine whether views toward homosexuality differ based on ethnicity in the United States.

The present study is part of a series on homosexuality. Other studies in the series look at trends on the acceptance of homosexuality and examine specific demographic variables such as gender, age, level of education, income, social class, religion and region to see whether these variables are significant. One study ranks the acceptance of homosexuality for 98 countries. Citations to some of those studies (with links) are listed in the reference section of the present paper.

Keywords: homosexuality, homophobia, gay, gay marriage, same sex marriage, sodomy, lesbian, transgender, LGBT, sex, sexual orientation, gender, victimless crime, human rights, women’s rights, religion, discrimination, Sharia law, Islam

JEL Classification: A13, B54, D63, J1, J12, J14, J15, J16, K14, K33, K4, M14