A new study found that U.S. women are significantly more prejudiced than men against lesbians.
The study, published in Social Psychology and Personality Science, looked at attitudes toward gay men and lesbians in 23 different countries, including both Western and non-Western ones.
Researchers found that, in the U.S., women were more prejudiced than men on the evaluations on lesbian women. The same result was found in Mexico and several other countries. “Only in China, France, and Italy did men report more negative attitudes toward lesbian women,” the researchers wrote.
In contrast, men and women in the U.S. did not “significantly differ in their attitudes toward gay men.” This was also the case in several other countries. Interestingly, men were more likely than women to have negative attitudes toward sexual minorities in general.
The study also yielded other interesting findings. Worldwide, people in all 23 countries were more prejudiced against gay men than they were against lesbians. The disparity was greatest in Russia and Hungary, while in India and Spain, attitudes toward gay men and lesbians were more similar.
Overall, Western countries were more likely to be accepting of gay men and lesbians than non-Western ones. The highest-ranking non-Western country was India in 14th place.
Spain was found to be the most positive country toward gay and lesbian people, followed by Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, and Canada. The U.S. was in the middle of the rankings.
The countries with the least positive attitudes toward homosexuality were Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Peru, and South Korea.
The researchers assert that prejudice against LGBTQ people is “driven, in part, by the perception that gay men and lesbian women violate traditional gender norms.”
The 23 countries in the study include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States
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