Research Paper

Social Attitudes towards the LGBT community

March 25, 2019

By: Lakshay Jha 17050

Tanish Mittal 17061
Yash Dhawan 17064
Introduction

7 September 2018 has become a historic day, India's Supreme Court ruled to decriminalize gay sex, in a unanimous
verdict handed down by a five-judge panel that has had a profound impact both here in India and across the world.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes carnal intercourse against the order of nature, was struck
down. Through this research project, we aim to understand, the extent of this bias in society and the factors and
variables that affect it.

An understanding of whether the ruling decriminalizing homosexuality has been a reflection of popular opinion or,
whether it aims to change and shape popular opinion, would allow us to distinguish between whether this is simply a
legal change on paper, or if it is social change. This will impact the lives of the LGBT community in India by making
way for their treatment as more equal citizens and protecting them from the years of struggle of blackmail, assault and
all kinds of discrimination, that they have had to go through due to social, political and legal reasons. It has also paved
the way for the LGBT community in India to gain further rights in terms of marriage, divorce, inheritance of partner’s
property, adoption, etc.

Research Problem

In lieu of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code being struck down by the Supreme Court this research is aimed at
finding the social attitude and awareness of the general public on the LGBT community.
This research hopes to find a correlation between the legal status and social attitude of the general public with regards
to homosexuals. And determine whether a change in legal status necessarily leads to a positive change in the social
attitudes of people which so far has been driven by a lack of awareness, ignorance and conservative tradition.

Brief Literature Review

A survey explored the public’s opinion belonging to different age groups on homosexuality. We analyzed that society
as a whole has become more accepting towards it. But now that homosexuals have been granted legal rights, will they
be taken more seriously and accepted by all?
The purpose of many articles is to review the current literature based on how respectable is the LGBT organization in
India and whether it has become more acceptable by the public since the last few years. With the recent verdict of
Section 377 of the Penal Code of India that criminalized private consensual sex between adults belonging to the same
sex, it brought together a coalition of groups and individuals including LGBT organizations who were previously
criticized and weren’t given enough autonomy. In India, the difficulty of proving that "carnal intercourse against the
order of nature" has taken place in private has meant that the law has only infrequently been applied in court
judgments. Achieving a prosecution requires catching two people carrying out the sexual act, which usually takes
place in private. [1].Section 377 has had a huge contrary effect on numerous individuals' lives.[2] The reform of
Section 377 has brought a drastic change in society’s perception towards LGBT rights. After several years of gay
parades, pride marches, worldwide media coverage and spreading awareness through LGBT organizations all around
the world, there is hope that the social acceptability towards them will increase and this will change the public opinion.

Research Objective

While this ruling does mean that there has been a change in the status of the LGBT community legally, we want to
find out whether this extends to social change. We also want to gain a deeper understanding about why there has been
a bias among society against this community. This includes the factors that contribute to this bias, whether these may
be social, cultural, lack of awareness, or religious. Also, whether this bias is still as prevalent as is suggested by the
secondary data looked at by us.
Theoretical discussion and hypothesis

Homosexuality in India has been considered a taboo and is frowned upon by the society. Attraction to the same sex
was even considered illegal until the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court to scrap Section 377 of the IPC in
September 2018. However a change in legal rights does not necessarily mean that the fight for LGBT rights is over.
Societal attitudes are usually independent of legal norms and thus it is imperative to find out whether this judgement
will go a step further in granting homosexuals more acceptance in conventional society.

Hypothesis:

1. Does granting legal rights to the LGBT ensure acceptance for them in conventional society or do they still face
discrimination and hostility from the general public due to a lack of awareness and an ignorant attitude towards
homosexuality?

2. Are younger people more accepting of homosexuality?

3. Do attitudes on the LGBT differ across males and females?

Research Design and Methodology:

• Type of Research Design

The research being conducted is a descriptive study aimed at finding a correlation between the attitude of people on
homosexuality and their age. It is also aimed at finding if opinion on homosexuality differs across genders. For the
purpose of this research we sent surveys to 50 male and female participants aged between 13-50.

• Time Period
The survey and research was completed in a period of one week and were of different genders and various ages

• Dependent and independent variables

The variables represented by x and y, here, are age (which is x) and acceptance of homosexuality (which is y) and is
represented by ranks 1, 2, 3; where 1 is most supportive and 3 is least supportive

• Data collection instruments and techniques

We designed an online survey with 16 questions which had multiple choice responses. There were no right or wrong
response but only individual opinions The survey was then sent to around 50 participants and their responses were
duly noted for analysis

• Data processing and testing techniques

The testing techniques here are the Pearson coefficient method which analyses the relationship between 2 independent
variables, x and y.

Findings of the Study

· Age - high responses from 19 year old respondents

· Sex - females had more pro LGBT stances as compared to males

· 94.1% are heterosexual, 1% is unsure and 2% are homosexual

· 68% know people who are homosexual

· According to 49%, being queer is something they are born with, 30% think it’s something one chooses and 20%
are unsure.

· According to 92% homosexuality is something that cannot have a cure, 8% think homosexuality needs a ‘cure’.
Based on our research, we found that the younger generations are more likely to be accepting of homosexuality. This
indicates that the violence and discrimination that the community faces is going to diminish over time. We also found
that females are more likely to have pro-LGBT stances as compared to males.

Limitations of the Study and Future Research Directions

 The limitations of this study are mainly that it is limited in its scope. We could only take a survey with a small
sample size and a limited geographical area. This leaves major scope for there being discrepancies across
regions that would have been overlooked by this research. Also, due to lack of experience in this field, we
found it difficult to convert the qualitative data collected by us into quantitative data for linear correlation.

 Another limitation is that we did account for a person’s religion in our research, but mostly, the interviews
were taken from Hindus. This may be a factor in people’s views on homosexuality since, Hinduism has
historically been more accepting of, and has represented transsexual and homosexual people in its scriptures
and engravings on temple walls; which is not the case with Abrahamic religions, which have historically
looked down upon homosexuality.

Analysis:

Descriptive Statistics: Using measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode)

 Mean age of people who think same sex marriage should be legalized:

n=47
Mean = ∑(respondents who support same sex marriage)/n
Mean = 1001/47 = 21.297

 Median age of people who would not be bothered if they found out their best friend was gay: 19 years
Median = {(n + 1)/ 2}th
= {(44+1)/2}th
= 22.5th
= (19+19) /2
=19 years

 Mode age of people who think being gay is something one is born with: 19 years (highest frequency)

 Range of age of people who are supporters of LGBT rights:

H= 50 years and L= 13 years
Range = H-L
Range= 50-13 = 37

Pearson Correlation

We took surveys on homosexuality across people from the age range 13-50. We decided to take our X variable as
age and our Y variable as acceptance of homosexuality (which we decided to measure in the form of rank: 1 - highest
acceptance, 2 - average acceptance, 3 - least acceptance).

1= highest acceptance of homosexuality

2= average acceptance of homosexuality
3= least acceptance of homosexuality
n= 50
S.NO. X (Age) Y (Acceptance of Homosexuality) XY

1 13 1 13

2 18 1 18

3 18 3 54

4 18 1 18

5 18 1 18

6 18 1 18

7 18 1 18

8 18 1 18

9 19 1 19

10 19 1 19

11 19 1 19

12 19 1 19

13 19 1 19

14 19 1 19

15 19 1 19

16 19 1 19

17 19 1 19

18 19 1 19
19 19 1 19

20 19 1 19

21 19 1 19

22 19 1 19

23 19 2 38

24 19 2 38

25 19 2 38

26 19 2 38

27 20 1 20

28 20 1 20

29 20 1 20

30 20 1 20

31 20 1 20

32 20 2 40

33 20 2 40

34 20 2 40

35 21 1 21

36 21 1 21

37 21 1 21

38 21 2 42
 39 21 2 42

40 22 1 22

41 22 1 22

42 23 2 46

43 25 2 50

44 25 2 50

45 28 2 56

46 29 2 58

47 45 3 135

48 45 3 135

49 49 2 98

50 50 2 100

1109 72 1732

1= highest; 2= average; 3= lowest

r= n(∑XY) - [(∑X) (∑Y)]

---------------------------------
√[n∑x² - (∑x)²] [n∑y² - (∑y)²]

r= 50(1732) – [(1109)(72)]
-----------------------------------------
√[50(1109) – (1109) ] [50(72) – (72) ]
2 2 2 2

r= 86600 – 79848
-----------------------------------
√(61494050 – 1229881) (259200 – 5184)
r= 6752
---------------------------
√(60264169) (254016)

r= 39800
-----------------------
√15308063152704

r= 39800
----------------------
3912552

r= 0.01017238876 (weak, positive, linear correlation)

Linear Correlation between x(Age) and Y (Acceptance of

Homosexuality)
3.5

3
y = 0.0441x + 0.4629
2.5 R² = 0.3247

1.5

0.5

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
References
[1]
"India's Supreme Court Rules Gay Sex Is No Longer A Crime". 2018. The Independent.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-gay-sex-crime-supreme-court-section-377-decision-lgbt-rights-illegal-
a8524971.html
[2]
Mahapatra, Dhananjay. 2018. "Section 377 Verdict: A Wrong Is Righted, Now For The Rights - Times Of India ". The
Times Of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/section-377-verdict-a-wrong-is-righted-now-for-the-
rights/articleshow/65713180.cms
[1] Misra, Geetanjali. "Decriminalising Homosexuality in India." Reproductive Health Matters 17, no. 34 (2009): 20-28.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40647442.
[2] Ghosh, Apoorva. "LGBTQ Activist Organizations as ‘Respectably Queer’ in India: Contesting a Western View." Gender,
Work & Organization22, no. 1 (2014): 51-66. doi:10.1111/gwao.12068.
[3] "IV.C.2f-4 International Bovine Meat Agreement (15 April 1994)." International Law & World Order: 1-6.
doi:10.1163/ilwo-ivc2f-4.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________--
Questionnaire on Homosexuality and Homophobia
Dear Sir/Ma’am,

Thank you so much for agreeing to take part in our group research. The main aim of our research is to obtain
information about the condition of the LGBTQ+ community living in India and the level of awareness about them,
their status in society today, and the society’s views regarding the political and social rights for this community.

Once again, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your time and taking part in this project. We
respect your privacy and promise to keep all data you provide us with strictly confidential.

1. NAME:

2. AGE:

3. SEX:
Mark only one oval.
Female
Male
Prefer not to say
Other:

4. NATIONALITY:

5. RELIGION:

6. Are you
homosexual ?
Mark only one
oval.
Yes
No
Maybe
7. If yes, do your parents know
about it? Mark only one oval.
yes and they are okay with it
yes but they would not admit it in front of other people
no, they don't know about it
8. Do you know anyone that is
LGBT ? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No

9. What does LGBT stand for?

10. Do you think being queer is something you are born as or

something you choose ? Mark only one oval.
something one is born with
something one choses
I'm not sure

11. Do you think homosexuality is something which

needs a cure? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No

12. Do you think homosexuality as a concept has spread because of

Western influence? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No

13. How would you feel if your best

friend was gay? Mark only one oval.
not bothered
a bit bothered
very bothered

14. How would you feel if you saw a gay couple

on the street? Mark only one oval.
I don't care
angry
happy
annoyed
15. Do you think same sex marriage should
be legalised ? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No

16. Are you happy about the Indian supreme Court's judgement
decriminalising homosexuality ? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No
I wasn't aware about it
I dont care

17. Do you think people from the LGBT community should be allowed
to adopt children? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No

18. Would you shop at a store owned by an openly

homosexual person? Mark only one oval.
Yes
No
Maybe

19. Would you visit a religious place like a temple or church where the
pandit/minister was an openly homosexual person?
Mark only one oval.
Yes

20. What would you do if you found out your sibling was
homosexual? Mark only one oval.
tell our parents
I won't be able to trust him/her anymore
I'd keep it as a secret because I'm embarrassed
I'd support him/her however needed
I'd be weirded out at first, but I'd get over it
21. Are you a member or supporter of the protest taking place
for LGBT rights? Mark only one oval.
member
supporter
neither member nor supporter
don't know about protests happening for LGBT rights