What is the status of acceptance of homosexuality in your country?

27 comments

1. The status of homosexuals? Well… currently single 👉😎👉

   No; jokes aside: the status of homosexuality is that it is legal. There are certain forms of discrimination still in place, such as with donating blood, and priests in the National Church have the right to refuse to marry couples of the same gender, and so on, but overall, while there still are many small and important battles left, a lot of the big ones are over. Not necessarily outright _won_, but at least they’re resolved in ways that have done away with historical institutional discrimination.

   I would say that most people are pretty accepting of homosexual people, and that homophobia is frowned upon by the vast majority of people. Generally homophobes do keep their believes to themselves, unless you gather groups of them, and as a queer person, nothing stops your family members to say homophobic things, like “you just haven’t found the right girl yet,” but most of society is tolerant, and homophobia is broadly frowned upon. Not to mention that there are ofc. political groups, particularly among liberals and conservatives, who do have views in which they may support a return to, or to uphold, certain… “traditional” models or policies, i.e. such as maintaining the right for priests in the national church to refuse to marry couples of the same gender.

   There is ofc. also the issue widely discussed in LGBTQ circles, that the forms of homosexuality widely accepted or tolerated are notably non-Queer, i.e. there is an expectation of heteronormative relationships and models. While it isn’t something in the wider debate, it is obvious that, for example, polyamorous relationships, and various non-binary genders have a hard time in public discourse. Again, ofc. it varies from setting to setting, and from group to group, but we are not at a place in Denmark where non-binary expression is widely accepted or tolerated. Another, related issue, is how transgenderism was, until very recently, considered a mental illness, and there are generally many issues faced by trans people in terms of legal transitioning and operations.

   Personally, I think that LGBTQ people are well integrated into society, but Danish society also has a certain over-tolerance. And that might sound weird at first, but it is a form of almost infantilising tolerance and acceptance, which, even in progressive groups, tends to declaw and thus put up barriers for Queer liberation.

2. Gay marriage is legal and we’ve had an openly gay prime-minister in 2011 (until 2014). Every so often it does show up in the news that someone was physically attacked for showing that they’re gay.

   I don’t know how widely accepted gay marriage and homosexuality in general are in Belgium but if I’d have to guess I’d say over 60% of Belgians support it.

3. No gay marriage in the Czech Republic. There are registered partnerships (a.k.a. civil unions) which is marriage minus adoption rights and joint tax filing. There is majority support for gay marriage though and in general people are either neutral or supportive of homosexuality.

4. > I’m curious what the status of gays and homosexuality more broadly is in your country?

   Its legal, and for the most part people couldn’t care less what other people do in their bedrooms.

   > Do you have gay marriage?

   No, but we have civil unions.

   > Is it becoming more or Leeds accepting of homosexuality and gay people?

   More, I think. More than half the country (51%) supports same-sex marriage. That would be untinkable just a decade or two ago. The law enabling same-sex unions was passed in 2006 and it was considered very controversial at the time.

   > Do you feel that gay men and women are integrated into your society?

   I truly cannot say as I am not gay myself. I would think so. Most people tend (and are expected to) be private about their sexuality.

5. Marriage for homosexuals is not available here, only civil union. Probably because of the church, can’t see any other reason, but for me marriage = civil union. Not sure about adoption tho.

   Hard to say in general, without statistics, or asking
   them directly. But I think my generation is quite accepting of queers, especially homosexuals. The non-binaries tho.. thats more of a zoomer thing. Might be wrong, I have no idea. But I had a gay flatmate for two years and he was the best guy ever. Vacuumed the flat three times per week, had a cute little dog, baked cookies, etc. Honestly marriage material, if it weren’t for the mismatch of genitals. He was a real bro.

   They are for sure integrated into society, they don’t stand out at all, excluding trans, which are often also an emotional wreck for obvious reasons, sadly.

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7. Homosexual civil weddings are not allowed. Homosexual couples can have a legal contract that recognises them as spouses but no marriage yet. They are also not allowed to adopt yet. There is a lot of talk about allowing the process so here’s hoping. Other than that, in large cities I would say that people may feel free to express themselves but it’s not like you will see a lot of PDAs, and in small towns no chance. Yeah, it’s not too much fun being lgbtq+ in Greece

8. We have gay marriage, I see gay people holding hands occasionally so I assume they don’t feel too unsafe to do so but I heard you can get the occasional dumb comment from various kinds of low life people.

9. Spain is ranked first in the world in acceptance of homosexuality according to Pew Research.

   It is a pretty normal thing to see men and women of the same sex kissing and all that. And gays tend to be very outspoken around here about their sexual inclination. I personally think that homosexuality, acceptance of homosexuality and understanding of it are pretty ingrained in Spanish society by now.

10. It’s hard for me to tell, and maybe presumptuous, but I feel like it’s been pretty normalized (for a lack of a better term). There’s obviously still some personal disagreements out there, and probably still something people might feel like they should keep to themselves. I mostly base that on the fact that statistically there should be more homosexual people in my social circles than what there openly are. It’s definitely not socially acceptable to discriminate or abuse people for their sexuality in broader society. Gay marriage is up to the church, but there’s no legal hurdles since 2009 as far as I know (not that I know), and the Church of Sweden (the largest denomination in Sweden (and the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe) and former state church) perform them. Transexuals are a bit behind though. probably where where homosexuals were in the 90s/00s.

11. Germany has had same-sex marriage since 2017, before that we had a civil partnership for a few years.

    The acceptance of homosexuality is quite high in Germany. In the last polls, 86% of my fellow citizens were in favour of social acceptance of homosexuality, 11% against.

    https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1088401/umfrage/umfrage-zur-akzeptanz-von-homosexualitaet-in-europa/

    In the source are also the data of the other Europeans.

    But it must also be said that there are news every year that there are attacks on homosexual people, I don’t want to imply that attacks are normal, but crimes against them happan. The acceptance in certain groups, among conservatives, certain groups with a migration background, is considerably worse.

12. Italian gay guy here.

    Let’s say that we do have some problems. Despite I’m personally surrounded by supportive and accepting people, homophobia is still a thing. I’m 24 and during my teenage years, my life wasn’t exactly a cake walk. But I think that now it’s a bit better.

    We needed a law to protect us against hate crime, but it didn’t pass, thanks to our “amazing” Senate that cheered and applauded when they managed to stop it.

    What else? Oh yeah, according to the Rainbow Map made by ILGA, we have a 25% of equality rate. Similar (or higher) scores were found in Eastern European countries, just to make a comparison 😅

    It could be definitely better. I think that we’re the generation that can really make a change.

    And yeah, we have civil unions (introduced in 2016) which are slightly different and not comparable to an equal marriage but that at least give us some kind of rights.

13. Almost entirely universal but homophobia like any xenophobia exists in small pockets.

    We had an openly gay head of government and his sexuality was very very rarely mentioned and wasn’t an issue in his election.

14. I live in the most northern (german speaking) part of Italy. Last year the best known newspaper published a letter from a reader who described homosexuality as lifestyle decision and concluded it was just a phase people go through because they want attention. I knew people like this existed, but that not a single editor took issue with the things in this letter was kind of shocking.

15. Majority just don’t care. General attitude is : I don’t care what happens in your bedroom.

    In my country you can either marry at your local birth record(Matrika) or church. Both are equal.

    I can see people support gay marriage at birth record in like maybe 5-10 years.

    Most people still disagree with stuff like adoption.

    Also gay marriage at church? I don’t see that ever happening, especially not in Catholic churches.

16. I’ve never experienced any form of homophobia in Ireland except maybe homophobia of innocence (not understanding how homosexual relationships work basically) but otherwise nothing but indifference or happy acceptance

17. I’ve never experienced any form of homophobia in Ireland except maybe homophobia of innocence (not understanding how homosexual relationships work basically) but otherwise nothing but indifference or happy acceptance

18. I’m a lgbt man from northern England.

    It’s usually completely fine and people are tolerant

    but it can be problematic. Society up here is quite backwards in some respects. It’s still very industrial in
    most places which leads to a kind of macho working mans homophobia being ingrained in the culture. I have quite a few homophobic relatives too.

    I’ve had to deal with random homophobia ever since I came out which has extended from one guy saying it must be odd around all the normal people, all the way to being called a bumboy and people deliberately standing next to me while discussing how they’d like to beat up gay people they see kissing in public.

    But I know who I am and I’m not afraid to be me.

19. In my academic bubble at least no one could care less of your sexual identity. Legally we are all equal, gay marriage is legal. I think being gay is more or less acceptable generally on the level even conservative boomers are ok with it (with the exclusion of (Abrahamic religions) religious conservative boomers who might give a dismissive stare and a sigh) Then again I don’t have first hand experience so I can’t say for sure. I have had couple of gay work friends and one gay boss so I think the integration is pretty on the level.

    Then again, to be honest Finnish society sort of shuns being really flamboyantly anything so if you like show off your identity don’t necessarily expect open arms. Like being dressed alternative is mostly socially acceptable but… People will think the person is just seeking attention.

20. It’s legal and marriage is legal too but I can’t remember since when. Gay people are pretty well accepted and our frist minister has been to a pride parade. The previous leader of our right wing part was also a lesbian. I’m sure there’s some issues in some places but generally most people don’t care and are very accepting.

21. Legally speaking it’s much better to be gay than trans, but still not great. (Hungary made it illegal to change one’s sex in their documents, so you can transition medically, but not legally)

    Socially, it’s still not too accepted on the countryside, but I feel the people are apathetic enough they don’t care when they meet a gay person. Or at least I want to think that. “Faggot” is still one of the most frequent insults, almost synonymous of “bad”.

22. Oh boy where do I start?

    The situation here is more complicated than it at first seems, there is a huge difference between west and east of Poland as well as cities, towns and villages…

    West is more liberal, East is more conservative.

    On one hand we have gay clubs in big cities, and gay parades in western half of Poland are peaceful, on the other we have the 3 eastern voivodeships (out of 16 total) that came up with the idea of lgbt free zones, and then there’s Bialystok that is full of homophobic football ultras.

    And at the same time we have also many openly gay (and lgbt+ in general) actors, singers and even some popular politicians…

    But as long as the church has influence over the government I don’t see any chance for changes in things like legalization of Gay marriages

23. Oh God, where do I even start… I think Poland is by far THE WORST country in whole EU when it comes to the gay and LGBT issues. Seriously.

    We don’t have the same rights as heterosexual people. No civil unions or whatever, not to mention same-sex marriage (which will NEVER be in Poland unless the constitution is changed and it’s not easy to do that). Attacks on LGBT people are something normal, but only those scandalous make the news (e.g. when a gay guy in Warsaw was literally stabbed in the back with a knife by some homophobe just because he was holding hands with his boyfriend). If as a boy you don’t fit the stereotype of a normal guy, so if you’re interested in things that are not really considered manly and you don’t like sports, prepare to be called slurs.

    It’s uncommon to see PDA when it comes to same-sex couples, because they are TERRIFIED. Heterosexual people can kiss and hold hands and all that in public, but two guys can’t. And no, people in Poland DO care what other people do, and I hate this. Everyone has to say something about someone or something. It’s just our national trait.

    In the eyes of church, LGBT is a rainbow plague. Our current president told in his presidential campaign, that LGBT is not people, it’s ideology… Homophobes are common in every social circle, even when we talk about people who are educated and have university degrees. It’s insane.

    Do I even have to say anything about the infamous “LGBT-free zones”?

    I’m a gay guy and I live in eastern Poland. I have no chances of finding love here. Even on Grindr guys here are anonymous, because they’re scared of someone outing them. In bigger cities you can find more tolerant people and there are way more opportunities, but I honestly can’t picture my future in Poland, so the only choice for me is to move abroad. Sorry.

24. everyone knows the answer. but still, I would say most people don’t care (who people sleep with, gay parades etc) when it’s not currently a hot topic for politicians to argue about. support for same- sex marriages is growing, but still not enough- and no will from political parties to change that, it’d be a too “radical” move for electorate, duh.

    it’s not as bad as media potrays it to be, civic unions or same-sex marriages are not legally recognized- but just a few years ago gay couples married abroad weren’t even able to register their child, and now it has changed.

    I’m not too optimistic about this, but let’s wait for 2023. You don’t have to be a “rainbow revolutionary” like granpa said to just make it easier for people to live.

25. I’d say there is a broad majority propably beyond 2/3 of the population that either actively supports gay/lesbian relationships, including marriage or does not care to hinder them. There are right wing and ultra conservative christian groups that thrivevon homophobia but that type of thinking gets less and less relevant.

    Since a few years homosexual marriage is a thing though it arrived by a ruling of our constitutional court, before that there were civil unions which granted most rights but not all. The court found that this was violating the equality principle of our constitution.

    I think Austria somehow became one of the most homosexual friendly country by accident – there definitly are more friendly countries if you look at poll numbers but the legal framework is rather solid.

26. > Is it becoming more or Leeds accepting of homosexuality and gay people?

    I don’t know the situation in Leeds, but in Italy we only managed in 2016 to have civil partnerships for same sex couples approved and even that was watered down by bitter parliamentary guerrilla warfare (opposition tabled thousands of counter bills with barely any difference, just so they could stall discussion), so couples in civil partnerships can’t even adopt the child of one of the “spouses”.

    Last year a bill to make homophobia motivated crimes more harshly punished failed to pass because the parliament is dominated by homophobic parties like Lega or ambiguous (5 stars).

    In general Italy is still ambiguous and somewhat halfway between the civilised western europe and the homophobic east. I would put support to gay marriage among the population somewhere between 60 and 70%, but the support in the parliament is much lower because the MPs are just a bunch of pussies who never make a risky stance. We already saw this multiple times when our constitutional court ruled about hot topics like euthanasia or legalisation of cannabis and said that parliament should legislate on it. But parliament simply chooses to ignore the issues.

    LGBT people are somewhat integrated in the big cities of the North but the provinces are still a rather bad place to be in, maybe not in terms of violence but more in terms of acceptance.

27. Well, we’re the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001.
    We’re known for out Gay Pride Parade in Amsterdam.

    And generally, we don’t really care what you do, and who you’re partnered with.
    Of course there is a significant amount of people having the feeling that they are being suppressed in their freedom of sexual expression. And sadly this very small minority, is very vocal about it.
    But still, this is just a very small percentage of the population. Most of the population are very acceptant for homosexuality, or just don’t seem to care for it, and just see it as a normal thing.

    And for most of them you wouldn’t really notice if someone is or isn’t part of the LGBTQ society, they are mostly accepted regardless.
    Remember one colleague came out as homosexual against all the colleagues, and the general reaction was, “ooh, cool”, And whenever his boyfriend comes by, no-one really seems to think anything different of it.

    So I think in terms of acceptance, being considered just normal, is as accepted as it can be.