HOMOPHOBIA MOST COMMON BIGOTRY

A study of 24 Western countries has found that homosexuals are the least desirable neighbours.

The study, titled Love Thy Neighbor: How Much Bigotry is there is Western Countries, was co-authored by Prof. Vani Borooah of the University of Ulster and Prof. John Mangan of the University of Queensland in Australia.

Over 32 000 people from 24 Western countries were asked if they would like neighbours from various groups including those that might be of a different race, Muslim, Jewish, Immigrants or homosexuals.

Of all the groups, gay neighbours were universally seen as the least desirable to have, followed by Muslims. Prof Mangan told Australia’s Daily Telegraph that, “the conclusion is the most prevalent form of bigotry is homophobia.”

The countries with the highest opposition to having gay neighbours included Northern Ireland (35.9%), Italy (28.7%), Ireland (27.5%) and Greece (26.8%).

The lowest rate of bigotry against gay neighbours was found in Sweden (6.0%), Netherlands (6.2%), Iceland (7.9%) and Denmark (8.0%).

Twenty four percent of people in Great Britain and 23 percent of Americans said that they would not like gay neighbours. The average across the 24 countries was 19.6 percent.