Exclusive: Londoners are least likely to accept a gay or transgender child
PinkNews Exclusive
New polling conducted by YouGov for PinkNews ahead of today’s PinkNews Debate has revealed that Londoners are the least likely in Great Britain to support a gay or transgender child.
The pollster asked 1,683 adults across Great Britain how they would react in terms of support and happiness if they had a child who was gay, or if they had a child who wanted to change their sex.
The data showed that Londoners are over five times more likely to reject support for a gay child – with 13% of Londoners indicating they would not support a gay child, and 20% indicating they would not support a trans child.
Geographically, voters from the north of Britain were more likely to be accepting, with 1% in the North of England and 2% in Scotland indicating they would not support a gay child.
Voters in the North (9%) and Scotland (10%) are also half as likely as Londoners to reject a transgender child.
In terms of happiness, 56% of people would be happy to have a gay child, with 18% unhappy – while just 27% would be happy to have a child who wanted to change their sex, and 39% unhappy.
Overall, 88% said they would support a gay child, compared to just 67% about a transgender child.
The data also found that only half (52%) of voters in the Great Britain approve of gay men becoming parents using surrogacy or adoption – days after designers Dolce and Gabbana became the subject of a boycott after saying that they didn’t support gay men becoming parents
Just 35% of UKIP voters approve of the idea of gay men being parents, compared to 43% of Conservatives, 53% of Labour and 77% of Lib Dems.
Meanwhile, 7% of Labour voters said they would not support a gay child – compared to 6% from UKIP, 3% of Tory voters, and 1% of Lib Dem voters.
While no Lib Dem voters say they would reject supporting a transgender child, 15% of Labour voters would, as well as 12% of Conservative voters and 20% of UKIP voters.
Within the LGBT community, almost a quarter (22%) of bisexuals who took part in the poll said they do not approve of gay men becoming parents, while just 57% of gay or lesbian respondents said they would be happy to have a transgender child.
Alex Neil, the Scottish Equalities Secretary commented: “The Scottish Government has worked hard to develop strong leadership and promote LGBT inclusive policies to create an environment where children and young people feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they can be who they are. There is nowhere that this is more important than in the home.”
PinkNews Chief Executive Benjamin Cohen said: “This polling is eye-opening as it goes against the widely accepted notion that London is the most tolerant part of the country when it comes to LGBT issues.
“Beyond the liberal, metropolitan elite, there are clearly many people in the capital who would react negatively to their child being gay or transgender. This shows the need for greater support structures, education and awareness to help families foster an environment that allows children to come out comfortably.”
