Here a figure from the Social Attitudes Survey for 1985: 70% of those surveyed think homosexuality is wrong
And here from that of 2000: 47% think homosexuality is wrong.
The later Survey showed a marked difference in opinion between age groups. Then 60% of those aged 60 and over thought it was always wrong. Only 23% of those under 30 did.
The figures are from the British Social Attitudes Survey.
What would the figures be for the US ? Perhaps there are some from some respectable neutral body ?
The UK government (Labour) has now published its bill to provide legal status to same sex partnerships. It is sure to pass into law. It provides, in essence, the same rights over property, tax and inheritance as those enjoyed by heterosexual couples who are married.
The opposition parties are certain to approve it. The Conservatives in particular, have struggled to shake off an anti-gay image; they've even managed to field 5 gay candidates for the next General Election. No doubt both major parties have had homosexual MPs of course; but none of these were ever open about it.
Interestingly we have had gay judges for a very long time; way back at least 100 years and to my own personal knowledge one High Court and Appeal Court judge in office from well over 50 years back ( he retired in the late 60s.) . Then none of our judges are elected nor are any of them chosen because of their views being noted as conservative, liberal, or anything else. Both of those features might explain that. ************************************************************** 04-05-04, 09:58 AM DvdGStwrt Well if things continue going they way they are here the UK will see an influx of emigrants escaping the persecution in the USA.
Big Grin
"And a recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll suggest the Supreme Court ruling has prompted a backlash: The number of people who have endorsed the idea that homosexual relations should be legal has dropped from 60 percent to 48 percent since the ruling, and only 40 percent of Americans say they now would support civil unions for homosexuals. "
This trend may just be the Media's picking the right (or wrong) people to poll not getting a true cross section of Americana -
OR it may really reflect the percentages.
"A majority of Americans still thinks marriage should be limited to a man and a woman. A recent Gallup Poll found 55 percent of Americans oppose same-sex "marriage", while only 39 percent said gay relationships should be given the same rights and privileges as traditional marriage."
Unlike the UK, America is distinctly divided, the coasts are more open to these kinds of things than the inner states. The "Bible Belt" states are against it (of course) but places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City are more open to the notion.
Perhaps the reason is that there are more homosexual men in the big cities than there are in the bible Belt.
There is a general rule of thumb about Gays and Lesbians. Gay men tend to migrate to the Big City while Lesbians tend to move out to the rural areas. This is based on a few simple mind sets of the genders:
1. Lesbians tend to pair off and move in with one another easier than Gays. They are also far less noticeable in the straight world.
2. Gay Men tend to be more promiscuous, many of them are "stereo-typical" gay, meaning limp wristed or talking with a lisp. This makes gay males more visible in the straight world - that and not playing sports, and interest in cooking, etc. But then the straight world is preoccupied with spotting gay things and gay (males) people.
3. Many straight men see two males having sex as a terrible thing, but they see two women having sex as erotic - thus the stigmata of being homosexual is not attached to lesbians like it is to gay males. This causes gay males to tend to re-locate to a more acceptable climate.
4. For a very long time lesbianism was more militant when it came to the notion of Males and their proper place in the world. This was due to the woman's Liberation Movement which used the lesbians in the GLBT community to "prove" that males are not needed. Indeed, Males are only useful for one thing and that is a donation of genetic material. LOL - This movement tended to cause a split in the two genders in the Community - We still have distinctly gender based bars and clubs - though not voiced it is well known that Bar X is for the Lesbians while Bar Y is for the gays.
Unlike the UK (And most European Countries) America is very puritanical when it comes to the human body and sex. We are so uptight that we make women wear tops on the beach and a woman who breast feeds in public is still considered "shameful" (Though it is legal I have seen mothers and father's turn their kids heads away from the public (though covered) breast feeding - We have a very long way to go). Though our TV and Movies love to include lots of blood and gore (Violence) one notes that the sex scenes in American Media is far less than in European media, and when it is in their there is a tendency for full frontal female nudity and nearly Zero full frontal male nudity. Indeed much of the European Media are allowed to show what Americans would consider as "soft Pornography".
All in All we can say that the Land of the Free is not a place for freedom of sexuality.
David
04-05-04, 04:30 PM juanruiz "All in All we can say that the Land of the Free is not a place for freedom of sexuality."
This is really nothing new, DGS. MARRIED couples slept in twin beds on TV all the way to the 1970s. Still am not sure where Little Ricky, Rusty, Wally and the Beaver, and a whole passleful of other TV family children came from. Maybe the stork?
04-05-04, 11:42 PM DvdGStwrt Juan! you said Beaver!
For shame, for shame, for shame....
Wink
Actually I have known that the USA is the most sexually repressed nation aside from the Vatican.
Eek
04-06-04, 02:30 PM IndigoFlavours Actually there are some countries in Africa where homosexuality is punishable by death.
04-06-04, 03:57 PM FredPuli Not only homosexuality in some countries; in Nigeria adultery by a woman may be punishable by death. There have been some cases where an unmarried mother has been so condemned. In the North of the country the Sharia, religious,Islamic, courts are active. In practice no such punishments are carried out because the government intervenes.
04-06-04, 05:13 PM juanruiz According to ultra-Orthodox Judaic halakah, a husband must divorce his wife if she was raped, or proclaim his disbelief that it happened.
04-06-04, 08:47 PM DvdGStwrt alright - I stand corrected!
Sheesh!
Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin
04-07-04, 10:51 PM puppyblues What if a man commits adultry in those countries, JR?
04-09-04, 06:43 PM juanruiz Hi pup!
I will only speak here on Judaism. According to the strictest interpretation of halakah (law), a married man may commit adultery with an unmarried woman without punishment. Over the millenia this has been questioned, however.
04-09-04, 07:20 PM FredPuli Juanruiz, that's interesting. The King James' Old Testament (for Anglicans) gives the Law in Leviticus ch 20 verse 10 as " And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" . This translation is plain enough ( 'even'has its old meaning of 'likewise, equally, in the same manner' we hope; presumably the neighbour's wife is not otherwise taken to be easier and so the sin not as grave Big Grin) So it does look, in our translation, as though an unmarried woman did not count.
05-05-04, 04:13 PM Leppi
quote:Originally posted by juanruiz: According to ultra-Orthodox Judaic halakah, a husband must divorce his wife if she was raped, or proclaim his disbelief that it happened.
I am ultra-orthodox myself and I have never heard what you mentioned. I therefore decided to ask a bunch of rabbi's that I know. None of them know or have heard anything about it. I remember you mentioning this once before as having seen it in an article and all I can say, is either it is an urban legend, or there was one time an ultra orthodox man who chose to do this, but this does not mean at all that he represents the norm.
05-05-04, 04:55 PM methos Leppi - Here are two stories of one actual event, both from sources that one would expect not to fall for a hoax about things Jewish: J, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California
