Sixty-nine percent of heterosexual respondents to the nationally-representative study said that a gay male couple should have inheritance rights but only 55 percent said they approved of the couple kissing not even on the mouth, but on the cheek. In 2014, when support for same-sex marriage was well past the halfway point, a study from Indiana University researchers published in the American Sociological Review found that heterosexual Americans were more supportive of inheritance rights for same-sex couples than they were of same-sex PDA, particularly between two men. The data for same-sex kissing is more disheartening still. Twenty-six percent said they would be uncomfortable seeing a same-sex wedding photo on a co-worker’s desk. You could be one of them.Īt present, over 60 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage rights, according to Gallup data.īut nearly 30 percent of non-LGBT Americans still feel uncomfortable when they see a same-sex couple holding hands, according to a survey commissioned by GLAAD for its annual Accelerating Acceptance report. More people than you might think would be upset by the very same sight the Orlando killer allegedly saw.
Discomfort with same-sex PDA is shockingly common, especially given current levels of support for same-sex marriage and LGBT rights. Her invitation to scroll through pictures of #TwoMenKissing wasn’t just intended for the kind of openly homophobic bigots who would celebrate the mass murder of LGBT people.