Survey of Canadians on LGBT people

[tenni]

*74% of Canadians saying they know someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,

*28% saying someone in their family is LGBT

* two-thirds saying they support gay marriage

*it would be a mistake to say Canada is void of discrimination.
Scott Brison, the Liberal Party’s only gay MP, said in an interview he recently encountered a “young guy who was demonstrating bravado by making anti-gay comments to me in front of his friends.”

*Younger Canadians are far more likely to say they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender than older Canadians, with 10% of those aged 18 to 34 answering the question with a “yes,” compared to 2% or 3% in the four older age categories.

*Alberta stands out as the only province in Canada where the majority of those polled say they do not support gay marriage.

*lower-income Canadians are less likely to know someone who is gay or someone who is in a same-sex marriage, they are least likely to support same-sex marriage

*lower income Canadians are by far the most likely to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender themselves.(commentary on why in article)


*Conservative and Liberal voters were tied on whether they know someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual, at 69%, compared to NDP, Green and Bloc Québécois voters, at 81%, 83%

*Conservative voters were by far the least supportive of same-sex marriage, with a 45.8% approval rate, while Liberals were behind them at 68.1%. Approval jumped to 77.6% among Bloc voters, 79.8% among NDP voters, and 85.1% among Greens.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/07/06/the-true-north-lgbt-new-poll-reveals-landscape-of-gay-canada/


note
The National Post is the most conservative of national news media in Canada. They did not give the exact location of the poll but it is interesting statistics. If this had been reported by another national news media, it would have been more likely to refer to "same sex marriage" than "gay marriage". The National Post was initially against same sex marriage ten years ago.

[Long Duck Dong]

and what is missing, is how many people are accepting of the LGBT.......

knowing somebody that is LGBT and being accepting of them, are two different aspects.....

[Annika L]

and what is missing, is how many people are accepting of the LGBT.......

knowing somebody that is LGBT and being accepting of them, are two different aspects.....

To know them is the first step in getting to acceptance...if you don't know any, it's easy to keep an intolerant attitude. I am impressed and encouraged that 2/3 of the population supports gay marriage, and that there is only one province where the majority opposes it. That also says something to me about the proportion of people who are accepting.

Thank you, tenni...these are indeed very interesting statistics. Got a job for me up there? *wink*

[Long Duck Dong]

annika it reads to me as a flawed stat....... it was a phone poll with a computer and most of them normally have limited options...... in the article it refers to a yes or no option, there is no unsure option...

its bloody possible that the number that support same sex marriage is higher....IE people could not vote unsure / don't know so had to vote yes or no and voted no..... and that the people that answered no to knowing a LGBT person, were actually unsure / don't know, but maybe accepting of LGBT if they did....

that is why I noticed * are you accepting of the LGBT * is missing.....

[Implanted]

It's interesting to note though that when I speak of my daughter's wife, no one bats an eye any more. Granted, I live on Vancouver Island which is a left leaning stronghold compared to most of the rest of Canada. The only Green Party MP is from the island.

[tenni]

I am inclined to think that if 67% of a population supports same sex marriage that indicates acceptance. Electing people to parliament, mayors of cities etc. who are elected on the elector's perception of being qualified regardless of their ethnicity, religion or sexuality is acceptance. Well, it does in Canada. The use of the word "acceptance" is not easily understood in Canada as far a LGBT is concerned. The national discussion has been more specific.

Again, though this doesn't mean that all tolerate and accept LGBT. It does mean that when we look at our southern neighbours, many of us do not see equality and freedom in that society. We have a very different understanding of equality and freedom as is written in our constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms with regard to minorities.

[Annika L]

annika it reads to me as a flawed stat....... it was a phone poll with a computer and most of them normally have limited options...... in the article it refers to a yes or no option, there is no unsure option...

its bloody possible that the number that support same sex marriage is higher....IE people could not vote unsure / don't know so had to vote yes or no and voted no..... and that the people that answered no to knowing a LGBT person, were actually unsure / don't know, but maybe accepting of LGBT if they did....

that is why I noticed * are you accepting of the LGBT * is missing.....

It could well be flawed, but that doesn't make it meaningless. If 67% is a *lower bound* on the level of support for same-sex marriage in Canada, then that is very meaningful to me. And if (and I agree with tenni that this is a reasonable inference) support for same-sex marriage is any kind of indicator of general LGBT acceptance, then this also is meaningful.

There can be a high margin of error in the actual numbers, and they still indicate an improvement over where I am.

[Long Duck Dong]

lol annika..... I agree..... but me being me, I tend to have more than one view of the same issue.... cos I think too bloody much... and I am no fool when it comes to subtle reasoning for things.... I have seen it far too much in NZ with things like the fight for the civil union bill..... people that marched for equal rights but were not LGBT friendly, they wanted the right to be in a different union to marriage.....

there is the support for same sex marriage
there is the support for equal rights for all
there is the support for ending discrimination
there is the support for breaking the strangle hold on who can marry.....
there is the support for LGBT having the right to marry..... ( its not there twice... the first one refers to gay and lesbian marriage, this one applies to any of the alternative sexualities )

they all equal the same result... just different reasonings for supporting same sex marriage..... and why I would be very interested to see how many are accepting of the LGBT.. and how many are not and voting yes for different reasonings......

[tenni]

Canada has only "marriage" that is equal regardless of gender of the two people. They all have the same rights, responsibilities and divorce procedure. Canada was either the second or third country in the world to make marriage equal regardless of gender. The same applies to laws regarding common law. Gender of the people is not relevant. We are not NZ. We are not Britain. We are not the USA.

Sexual orientation was first introduced as a Human Right in legislation by the province of Quebec in 1977. This process has been long and going on for quite awhile. By 2000, the legal status of gays and lesbians in Canada had changed significantly. Homosexuality had been decriminalized, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation had been prohibited in areas such as immigration, employment, military service, pensions, and income tax. "Out" GLBT in the Canadian military has been there for nearly 13 years. Uniformed military and ex military people have been in Monteal Quebec Pride parades since 1999. This all adds to an evolving attitude within the public.