US: Less than half of Americans think people are born gay
Less than half of Americans believe people are born gay, while over a third believe homosexuality is caused by upbringing and external factors.
According to a Gallup poll, Americans are less likely to agree that people are born gay than they were a year ago, with 42% agreeing, compared to 47% last year.
Meanwhile, 37% now believe it can be attributed to environment and upbringing, up from 33% last year.
The long-running poll has been conducted since 1977, when 56% of people believed homosexuality was caused by environment and upbringing, and just 13% believed people were born gay.
The pollster said: “Though being gay as the result of genetics or other factors before birth has become a considerably more mainstream belief and is now mentioned by a plurality of Americans, it is still one held by slightly less than half of the U.S. population.
“This disagreement seems likely to continue as long as the scientific community remains agnostic about the question.”
Gallup noted that the American Psychological Association maintain “there is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation.”
It added: “Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 8-11, 2014, with a random sample of 1,028 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.”
