Tag Archives: Accepting

Religions Are Now More Accepting of Gays and Lesbians, Study Shows

Although intolerance definitely still remains (sometimes in a large, unmoving bway) the tide is turning for gay and lesbian acceptance.

For the first time in history we’re now seeing the majority of people in the West be in favour of gay marriage while many more people also believe that LGBTQ folk should be afforded the same rights that the heterosexual and cisgender population have long enjoyed. Where the strongest amount of resilience comes from, though, is in the religious sector. Holding onto anti-gay beliefs like a stroppy baby with a rattle, some religious denominations are against LGBTQ identities but surprisingly, the number of religious groups that think this is decreasing.

The proof comes from Duke University who have recently compiled a study based on data taken between 2006 and 2012. Interviewing representatives from 1,331 American churches, mosques, temples, synagogues (amongst other places of worship), Duke University deemed that although just 37.4% of those they spoke to were accepting of gays and lesbians in 2006, in 2012 that figure rose considerably to 48%. And that’s not just being taken at face value either as the dominations literally became more welcoming, with 17.7% of volunteers being gay or lesbian in 2006 and 26.4% of them being gay or lesbian in 2012.

Also interesting to note is which dominations noted an increase in acceptance. Black Protestant churches, white liberal churches and non-Christian congregations all saw rises while unmoved by the huge leaps and bounds that the LGBT rights movement has made, Catholic acceptance of gays and lesbians actually decreased, which is unfortunate. However that said, the current Catholic pope has said previously that that the church can’t ‘interfere’ with gay people and that civil unions are ‘tolerable’ so as he’s fairly new to the job, there’s hope for that decrease in acceptance to turn its way around.

Furthermore, it’s important to note that Duke’s study only covered those who identify as gay and lesbian. How these denominations might feel about those who identify as bisexual, transgender or non-cisgendered is another question entirely. So there’s definitely a missed opportunity there but at least the statistics that we do have are (mostly) positive.

Harry Potter Teaches Children to Be More Accepting of Gay People, Study Shows

In the esteemed educational institution of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the spells are electrifying, giant spiders and mythical beasts can be found roaming the grounds and the ghosts live in portraits.

Almost every aspect of J.K Rowling’s fictional academy only exists on the page, sprung from her imagination or on theatre screens and DVD discs. But what the world in the Harry Potter books does portray is unfortunate ignorance. ‘Purebloods’ are witches and wizards with magical parents like Ron and Harry, ‘Half-Bloods’ have one magical parent while the offensive term ‘Mudbloods’ is used to describe those with no magical heritage, like Hermione who has Muggles (non-wizarding people) for parents.

Throughout the books we’re shown how Ron, Harry and various others stick up for Hermione and with the readers and viewers empathising with that (along with the various oppressed magical creatures in the series), it seems that we’ve learnt how to become more accepting.

That statement comes from a new study conducted in Northern Italy. Researchers gave high schoolers two questionnaires – one asked which books they’d read while the other asked their opinions on gay people. Interestingly, the results gathered showed that those who had read the Harry Potter books were more accepting of gay people than those who hadn’t read them at all. Not only that but those who answered saying that they identified with Harry himself were also far more likely to show positive attitudes towards gay people.

There is the point being made that as conservative and religious families are often wary of magical related media, the high schoolers who haven’t read the book might come from conservative backgrounds anyway. However, author Loris Vezzali told NY Mag’s Science of Us team that “The books do not directly refer to real-world groups, and so their message can be easily applied to several stigmatized categories,” giving us even more of a reason to love Harry Potter and his magical adventures.

Source:NY Mag