22% of UK population...

[monkeymamma]

'Wouldn't attend a wedding if it was between a same sex couple' according to Newsnight. I mean what the actual fuck? I don't know a single person who would say this. To me anyway. Apart from being vile homophobia it's so... Illogical. I just don't get how anyone could have a problem with two people getting married. AIBU?

[LongTimeLurking]

22% of the population are homophobic to some extent.... doesn't surprise me really.

[MinesAPintOfTea]

Microchips



But I think that more people would accept an invitation if a confirmed bachelor invited them than think they would now. My uncle only came fully out shortly before his partnership and all the daily mail reading and believing older generation (frequent anti-immigrant rants and all) came and said how lovely it was to see such a beautiful service.

[JapaneseMargaret]

Microchips, that is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry.

[LynetteScavo]

A Saturday wedding, where children are invited, with a paid bar? I'm there, whoever is getting married.

[shakethetree]

22% is actually quite low, most people I know can't stand any weddings lol

[AgaPanthers]

Tis bollocks.

They asked people

"If you were invited to a same-sex wedding do you think you would or would not attend"

I mean it's a stupid hypothetical question that is meaningless.

ComRes say:

"A substantial proportion of the population still have reservations about same sex marriage with 42% disagreeing that they are no different from heterosexual marriages."

How is that 'having reservations'?

Of course same-sex marriages are different! It's stating the obvious, it doesn't mean you have reservations.

Load of old crap.

[PosyFossilsShoes]

Made me so angry hearing some of the views tonight. I'm straight but must be so hurtful for those SS couples still facing such a moral backlash.

DumbleDee you're right, it is - surprisingly so. I tend to think I've got a pretty thick skin about homophobia now, but for some reason it's far worse hearing it from politicians and on vox pops than from randoms in the street.

And for those saying the 22% are Christians, Muslims and old people, I think you'd be surprised. My parents' priest wants the church to be allowed to conduct same sex marriages, for example, and my personal experience is that the WWII generation are more tolerant than their own children as regards race and sexuality.

And whilst the plural of anecdote isn't data, again my experience is that the late teens / early 20s seem to be the worst age for homophobia and I do wonder if it's connected to increasingly misogynistic and homophobic popular culture such as song lyrics. Although I suspect it's just arseholes being arseholes, and the group who have the confidence to yell at people on the street are not little old ladies.

[MicrochipsAndMemories]

I'm only surprised it's not higher

I used to talk to my dad every day and he was perfectly fine with me being gay until I told him we were getting married. He hasn't spoken to me since, that was 3 years ago

[dolphinsandwhales]

Don't you think the 22% is Christians and Muslims and other religions who may oppose same sex marriages?

[dolphinsandwhales]

I would turn the invitation down, unless it was going to be low key and fun. I'm fed up of weddings, cash requests and bridezillas. Nothing to do with sex of the couple though.

[nickymanchester]

Tanith Fri 28-Mar-14 15:09:20
And Mumsnet is pretty representative of the nation

This is just such a funny statement. MN is just so far from being a representative sample of the the UK I don't quite now where to start with explaining it to you.

[granny24]

Actually that constitutes a fair sample size. The big pollsters have a sample size of around that for General Elections and they reckon to have a confidence level of +/- 3%.

[thecatneuterer]

tanith I don't know how the survey was done. If it was a self-selecting group of Radio 5 listeners then of course it's not representative. But may be they did some sort of proper sampling. I really have no idea. However, the overall figure doesn't surprise me at all.

[Tanith]

thecatneuterer Neither is Radio 5 Live. I'd say it was even less representative of the UK population than Mumsnet.

There is everything wrong with using such a tiny sample and claiming it's representative of the whole of the UK. It's about as accurate and credible as my own result, i.e. a complete load of rubbish!

[iliketea]

I was surprised when I heard it, but then I listeners into a local radio show, and some of the comments shouldn't even have been broadcast.
(Shouldn't have been surprised, it's like a radio show version of the daily mail).

I think part of my problem is I just don't understand the argument against marriage equality - why shouldn't 2 adults show their commitment to one another regardless of gender? And as such, I'm shocked / stunned when people express such disdain for something which doesn't affect them in any way at all.

[HectorVector]

I don't believe this statistic at all. You invite family and friends to your wedding, those that love you for what you are, I can't imagine anyone who loves you not attending your wedding because you were gay. Would a random stranger go to a wedding for a hetero or homo sexual coue, no probably not. Bizarre.

[Pigletin]

Well I guess YANBU to be surprised, but t be honest I'm not. We all like to think that the UK is a very modern society and everybody is living in the 21st century, however here are some examples of the things that are still happening in this country as we speak: FGM, forced marriages, child labour, casual and not so casual racism, discrimination based on sex (look at the difference in earnings of men and women). Based on this, I am not surprised about homophobic views. It is very sad that some people live in the dark ages when it comes to these things.

[thecatneuterer]

Tanith MN really isn't representative of the nation though. For starters it's predominantly female. I would also say it's predominantly under 65 and predominantly middle class. All those are factors which make people much less likely than the average to be homophobic.

And what's wrong with a study of 1000 people finding that 200 are homophobic and extrapolating that to the rest of the population? It all depends on how well it was controlled for sex/age/ethnicity or cultural background/social class. If it managed to find a reasonably representative sample than that's a valid (ish) finding. (I don't expect it was done with any great academic research type rigour - but still ...)

[Tanith]

So - I make it around 45 people replying to the thread, so let's double that and it nearly makes 100...
And so far, no-one's said they wouldn't refuse such an invite, so that's positive. And Mumsnet is pretty representative of the nation - more so than Radio 5 Live, anyway...

So my survey is worth just as much and it shows that almost 100% of the population would be delighted to accept an invitation to a single sex marriage!

So there!

[Tanith]

Yes, I saw this and thought "Cobblers!!"

I was astounded when I saw that they'd surveyed just over 1000 people. So let's see - 20% of 1000 makes a grand total of: 200

Scarcely 20% of the population!

BBC Radio 5 Live should be utterly ashamed of themselves!

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

You're easily shocked. I'm only late forties and, even in my lifetime, the types of marriages that have raised eyebrows and objections have included....

• being pregnant when walking down the aisle
• mixed (race) marriages
• divorcees getting married (in a church)

None of which apply today. Gay marriage is a new thing that challenges existing opinions. Give it 20 years and it'll be dead normal.

[nickymanchester]

I would very much agree with what thecatneuterer said above.

A lot of people on MN come from a very liberal, affluent or middle class background. A large part of the UK do not.

If anything, it's gratifying that it is such a small number.

To the poster that complained about the small size of the survey this is actually quite common. The figures they get are then weighted to match the overall UK figures.

So, for example, if they manage to contact a lot more pensioners in the survey than they are as a percentage of the UK population then the answers that those people give are given a lesser weighting so that the survey actually reflects the range of different people in this country.

[TillyTellTale]

I love ComposHat's point.

I'm not sure how I'll resist pressuring gay friends to get married now.

[HesterShaw]

It doesn't mean 22% of those invited would refuse the invitation though, does it? Because a gay couple are not likely to be friends with homophobes and therefore wouldn't invite any. So I don't think the bigots need to agonize about refusing an invitation....they won't get any.

[fluffyraggies]

At face value that is shocking and depressing. Nearly a quarter of those asked :(

But ... hmmm, yes, who did they ask? we must remember those figures were gathered with the intention of making a tv programme on the back of them. You could ask 4 grumpy 80/90 year olds if they would be perfectly happy going to a same sex wedding and if 3 of them said no you'd have a ''75% of people surveyed wouldn't go to a gay wedding'' headline for your show.