Majority support gay equality rights, poll finds

Up to 90% of the British population support the ban on discrimination against gays and lesbians, according to new research.

Despite the protestations of some church leaders, as many as 85% specifically back the sexual orientation regulations, which make discrimination against gays and lesbians in the provision of goods and services an offence. The YouGov survey of 2,000 Britons shows that "people of faith" were as likely to support gay equality as members of the wider population.

The vast majority also called for tougher steps to confront homophobia to be taken by government, workplaces, schools and the media.

The polling, conducted for the charity Stonewall, depicts a society predominantly at ease with one of the key social changes of the past 20 years.

More than a third of those polled said they have a "high" opinion of lesbians and gay men. Three out of four said they would be comfortable if their child's teacher was gay and even more said they would happily be treated by a gay doctor.

Further, 92% said they would have no complaints if it emerged that a footballer in a team they supported was gay while eighty per cent said a gay member of the royal family would not cause a problem. 89% said they would back laws making it illegal to incite hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

But at the same time, the public also appeared to recognise the extent to which prejudice still exists. Over half said they believe gay and lesbian people suffer public discrimination and 73% called for corrective action.

Many spoke of witnessing homophobic bullying at school and at work. 83% said the media relied too much on "cliched stereotypes" of gay people. Ben Summerskill, Stonewall's chief executive, said the organisation wanted an accurate picture of attitudes in the UK.

"We wanted to establish whether the shrill voices in modern Britain still opposing equality are actually representative. While a significant majority of Britons are clearly not prejudiced, as this polling demonstrates, their voices are often drowned out by a minority who are.

"I'm delighted we now have hard evidence that people don't want to live in a society that allows prejudice against any group of people, including lesbians and gay men, to fester."

He said the overall conclusion is that "Britain is a tolerant country with a widespread acceptance that prejudice has no proper place in civil society".

But he said those who do discriminate have a disproportionate impact. "While a significant majority of Britons don't appear prejudiced against gay people, millions have witnessed the corrosive damage done by the few that are."

The sexual orientation regulations, which came into force in April, mirror the similar long-standing bans against racial and religious discrimination.