Explaining Comfort with Homosexuality in Rural America

Abstract

While recent research has explored the determinants of homophobia in urban settings, few have looked at the perception of homosexuals in rural communities. This research fills this gap by exploring the ways in which Central Appalachians feel about homosexuality. In doing so, the impact of interpersonal contact with a homosexual as well as the factors of gender, age, religious beliefs, gender role prescriptions and fear of AIDS are identified through a multivariate analysis of 123 college students. In the end, the role of homosexual peers is emphasized, as are the effects of the perceived cause of homosexuality, and the anxieties over AIDS. Finally after some stipulations about methodological limitations, this work offers some suggestions as to how practitioners and social work educators can use this study to counter the homophobic ideas that are prevalent in rural Americans.

Key Words:

• Attitudes toward homosexuals
• rural urban differences
• Appalachia
• social contacts
• attributions
• sex stereotypes
• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
• religiosity