---
title: "Homosexuality Should Be Accepted by Society"
description: "While gay marriage remains a divisive issue, a 58%-majority of Americans say homosexuality should be accepted, rather than discouraged, by society."
date: "2011-06-02"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2011/06/02/homosexuality-should-be-accepted-by-society/"
---

# Homosexuality Should Be Accepted by Society

While the public is now evenly split on gay marriage, by a 58%-to-33% margin Americans say that homosexuality should be accepted, rather than discouraged by society. Younger adults overwhelmingly say homosexuality should be accepted. Fully 63% of Americans younger than age 50 say this, including 69% of adults ages 18-29. While older Americans also say homosexuality should be accepted, rather than discouraged, the margin is much smaller (47% vs. 42%). Political and religious divisions also remain. Two-thirds of Democrats (67%) and 63% of independents say homosexuality should be accepted by society, but only 40% of Republicans agree (53% say it should be discouraged). Substantial majorities of the religiously unaffiliated (79%), white Catholics (66%) and white mainline Protestants (65%) say that homosexuality should be accepted. However, just 29% of white evangelical Protestants agree, while more than twice as many (63%) say homosexuality should be discouraged by society. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1994/poll-support-for-acceptance-of-homosexuality-gay-parenting-marriage)