What led to the acceptance of gays
Listeners to Radio 4's Today Programme will have heard Eamonn O'Keeffe, a doctoral student in the Faculty of History, explaining a new discovery.
He found an 1810 diary entry by Matthew Tomlinson, a Yorkshire farmer, which suggests that recognisably modern understandings of homosexuality were entity discussed by common people earlier than is commonly thought.
Interestingly, this is not what Eamonn was looking for when he opened the large volume of diaries in Wakefield Library last year. In a guest post on Arts Blog, Eamonn takes us behind the scenes of his unusual find:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zaCmIi5TgW8?controls=0"While looking for something completely different, I discovered a remarkable discussion of homosexuality in the diary of an early-nineteenth-century Yorkshire farmer.
Reflecting on reports of the recent execution of a naval surgeon for sodomy, Matthew Tomlinson wrote on 14 January 1810: “it appears a paradox to me, how men, who are men, shou'd possess such a passion; and more particularly so, if it is their world from childhood (as I am informed it is) – If they feel such an inclination, and propensity, at that certain time of life when youth gende
The Global Divide on Homosexuality
Overview
For updated views on this question from 2019, spot here.
As the United States and other countries grapple with the issue of same-sex marriage, a fresh Pew Research Center survey finds huge variance by region on the broader question of whether homosexuality should be accepted or rejected by society.
The survey of publics in 39 countries finds broad acceptance of homosexuality in North America, the European Union, and much of Latin America, but equally widespread rejection in predominantly Muslim nations and in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and in Russia. Opinion about the acceptability of homosexuality is divided in Israel, Poland and Bolivia.
Attitudes about homosexuality have been fairly stable in recent years, except in South Korea, the United States and Canada, where the percentage saying homosexuality should be accepted by society has grown by at least ten percentage points since 2007. These are among the key findings of a new survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in 39 countries among 37,653 respondents from March 2 to May 1, 2013.
The survey also finds that acceptance of homosexuality is particularly widespread
LGBTQ+ Rights
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| Yes | No | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| 2023 May 1-24 | 39 | 60 | * |
| 2021 May 3-18 | 31 | 69 | * |
| Should be legal | Should not be legal | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| 2021 May 3-18 ^ | 79 | 18 | 2 |
| 2020 May 1-13 | 72 | 24 | 3 |
| 2019 May 1-12 | 73 | 26 | 2 |
| 2018 May 1-10 | 75 | 23 | 2 |
| 2017 May 3-7 | 72 | 23 | 5 |
| 2016 May 4-8 | 68 | 28 | 4 |
| 2015 Jul 8-12 | 68 | 28 | 4 |
| 2015 May 6-10 | 69 | 28 | 4 |
| 2014 May 8-11 | 66 | 30 | 4 |
| 2013 Jul 10-14 | 64 | 31 | 5 |
| 2013 May 2-7 | 65 | 31 | 5 |
| 2012 Nov 26-29 | 64 | 33 | 3 |
| 2012 May 3-6 | 63 | 31 | 6 |
| 2011 Dec 15-18 | 62 | 33 | 5 |
| 2011 May 5-8 | 64 | 32 | 4 |
| 2010 May 3-6 | 58 | 36 | 6 |
| 2009 May 7-10 | 56 | 40 | 4 |
| 2008 May 8-11 ^ | 55 | 40 | 5 |
| 2007 May 10-13 | 59 | 37 | 4 |
| 2006 May 8-11 † | 56 | 40 | 4 |
| 2005 Aug 22-25 | 49 | 44 | 7 |
| 2005 May 2-5 | 52 | 43 | 5 |
| 2004 May 2-4 | 52 | 43 | 5 |
| 2004 Jan 9-11 | 46 | 49 | 5 |
2003 Jul 25-2 Gay rights 50 years on: 10 ways in which the UK has changedDefinitions can sometimes be tricky though - the UK is included despite Northern Ireland's ban. Brazil and Mexico are also on ILGA's list because "through one legal route or another, it appears to be possible to wedding in most jurisdictions". Germany is not included - MPs gave their approval to same-sex marriage earlier this year but the rule does not come into force until October. Countries where gay marriage is legal 2001 Netherlands 2003 Belgium 2005 Canada, Spain 2006 South Africa 2009 Norway, Sweden 2010 Iceland, Portugal, Argentina 2012 Denmark 2013 Uruguay, New Zealand, France, Brazil 2014 UK (excluding Northern Ireland) 2015 Luxembourg, Ireland, Mexico, USA 2016 Colombia 2017 Finland A further 28 countries guarantee some civil-partnership recognition according to ILGA. The early 1990s saw a major growth of the Council of Europe membership due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. In 1989, for example, there were 22 member states whereas by 2010 this had risen to 47. To participate the Council of Europe, new member-states must undertake certain commitments, including conforming their criminal laws to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). As we know from the situation in Northern Ireland described in Dudgeon above, the ECHR right to privacy prohibits the criminalisation of same-sex activity. By the time candidate states from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc applied for membership of the Council of Europe, it was a condition of their accession to decriminalise. By way of example, the following countries decriminalised at or around the time they joined: Lithuania (joined the Council of Europe in 1993; decriminalised in 1993), Estonia (1993; 1992), Romania (1993; 1996), Serbia (2003; 1994), Ukraine (1995; 1991), Albania (1995; 1995), Latvia (1995; 1992), Macedonia FYROM (1995; 1996), Moldova (1995; 1995), Russia (1996; 1993), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002; 1998-2001), Georgia (1999; 200 |