NI survey shows growing support for gay relationships

The number of people who oppose same-sex relationships in Northern Ireland has dropped significantly over the last 25 years, a survey has suggested.

The NI Life and Times Survey recorded the views of 1,200 people across Northern Ireland on a range of issues.

The number of respondents who said gay relationships were “always wrong” fell from 76% in 1989 to 28% in 2012.

Support for gay relationships in the 2012 survey was greatest among younger people, women and Catholics.

However, the 2012 survey also suggested that a third of people in Northern Ireland disapprove of gay people adopting children and are opposed to lesbians having equal access to fertility treatment.

The survey was carried out by ARK, a joint resource between Queen’s University and the University of Ulster. The survey records public attitudes to a wide range of social issues.

Researchers Siobhan McAlister and Nicola Carr, from Queen’s School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, and youth worker Gail Neill, have been interpreting the trends from the NILT and will be discussing their findings at a public seminar at NICVA in Belfast on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of the event, Dr Nicola Carr, said: “Over half of the survey’s respondents expressed support for same-sex marriage, however, over one third disapproved of gay adoption and also to lesbians having access to fertility treatment on the same basis as heterosexual women. At least one in four people did not believe that a lesbian or gay parent or parents with a child constituted a ‘family’.

“The survey also found that, in general, females and those aged under 65 were more likely to report positive attitudes to same-sex relationships.”

Dr Siobhan McAlister said that in terms of parenting and family life, attitudes were found to have changed less.

She added: “Respondents declaring a Protestant affiliation were more likely to report negative attitudes towards same-sex marriage than Catholics, or people declaring ‘no religion’. For example, while the majority of those who presented as having no religion (74%) or as Catholic (66%) supported same-sex marriage, less than half (45%) of those defining as Protestant were in support of it.

“Beliefs about homosexuality were also found to be influential. The researchers also found that knowing someone who was gay or lesbian tended to promote more positive attitudes. Between 2005 and 2012, the percentage of people who knew someone who was lesbian or gay rose from 46% to 70%.”

Support among respondents for gay marriage tended to decrease with age.

While 74% of the youngest age-group were supportive of gay marriage, this figure fell to 30% in the oldest age-group.

On the issue of gay adoption, the research found some softening of attitudes. In 1989, 11% of people surveyed thought that lesbians should be allowed to adopt a baby under the same conditions as heterosexual couples and 5% believed this in relation to gay couples. In the most recent survey, the figures had risen to 40% and 36% respectively.

Despite the softening of attitudes towards same-sex relationships, marriage and adoption, the NILT survey reveals that a preference for the ‘traditional’ heterosexual family remains.