Anti-Gay Sentiment Among Adolescents in Belgium and Canada: A Comparative Investigation into the Role of Gender and Religion

Abstract

Previous research has indicated that opposition toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trangender (LGBT) rights remains prevalent among Western populations. In this article, we investigate the determinants of anti-gay attitudes among adolescents in two liberal democracies, Belgium (n = 6,330) and Canada (n = 3,334). The analysis indicates that hostile feelings toward LGBT rights are particularly widespread among boys, while the effects of socioeconomic status and parental education remain limited. Various religious denominations proved to have a strong and significant negative impact on tolerance, with especially high scores for Islam. Religious practice, too, contributes to a negative attitude toward LGBT rights. The consequences of these findings with regard to tolerance for gay rights among Islamic youth in Western democracies are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• religion
• tolerance
• gay rights
• youth
• gender
• Islam

Notes

1. An alternative scale was created using the factor loadings for the three items (M = 0, SD = 1). This provides an alternative test to the additive scale. The general results from this analysis proved to be exactly the same. In this model, too, the standardized regression coefficients are -.328 for gender, .174 for Islamic background, and .173 for religious practice (explained variance .20). A further analysis, with the 0–10 scale on agreeing with gay rights activists, again conducted the same results: -.35 for gender, -.21 for Islamic background, and -.16 for religious practice (explained variance .21). While these additional tests have methodological shortcomings, they confirm the robustness of the results reported in the body of this article. Results of additional tests are available from the authors, upon request.

2. Note that this breakdown is similar and significant in both country samples when examined individually.