Love thy neighbour (as long as the neighbour isn’t gay)
I like to pretend sometimes that we have moved on as a species, that we have enlightened ourselves and have left the chains of ignorance behind as we accept one another and move into the 21st Century – oh am I wrong. A new survey shows that almost quarter of NZers and Australians would not want a Gay neighbour! . John Mangan, professor of economics at the University of Queensland, is co-author of a paper interpreting statistics from the Human Beliefs and Values Survey, conducted in 24 Western countries between 1999 and 2002 and has found that 22.3% of NZers and 24.7% of Australians did not want a gay neighbour – the sheer size of that percentage is eye opening and is a massive reminder that although we like to think society has become more progressive, there is a solid, solid chunk of the population who are homophobic, what do these people think will happen if homosexuals move into the neighbourhood? Have these people not seen Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? Once a group of homosexuals move in, they decorate and colour co-ordinate all the letter boxes and start driving up property valuations for everyone – who doesn’t want that? Is the fear that Gay orgies will break out left right and center or God forbid the precious children of straight families will somehow be ‘turned’ (because homosexuals get points for everyone they turn don’t you know), is it a deep seated anger that the street has to be shut down nightly for gay pride parades 6pm weekdays (9pm late show on Friday nights)?
That homophobia lurks in our society is no shock, but that the number is as high as it is – almost quarter of everyone, should raise eyebrows and make everyone think hard about how such prejudice can be broken down – maybe a queer pride parade is as important to the straight community as it is for the queer community in terms of breaking down fears.
Survey finds gay prejudice worldwide
A survey of 1202 New Zealanders has found 22.3 per cent would not like homosexuals as neighbours. And of 2048 Australians surveyed, 24.7 per cent said they didn't want gays living next door. John Mangan, professor of economics at the University of Queensland, is co-author of a paper interpreting statistics from the Human Beliefs and Values Survey, conducted in 24 Western countries between 1999 and 2002. He said the results showed anti-gay prejudice was by no means confined to Australia. "The conclusion is the most prevalent form of bigotry is homophobia. It's everybody except Scandinavians, so it's not a particularly Australian thing." The figure was exceeded by survey respondents in Austria (26.7 per cent), Greece (26.8), the Republic of Ireland (27.5) Italy (28.7) and Portugal (25.6). And Northern Ireland came out on top, with 36 per cent saying they did not want gay neighbours. The least prejudiced nationality in the survey was Sweden, where only 6 per cent said they would object.
posted by Bomber @ 3:20 pm
12 comments
12 Comments:
If you want to see the extremes head over to Kiwiblog and check out some of the comments over there. One guy is even down to calling them "fagots" and numbers of other things. What a scary and intolerant place NZ is with people like this around.
Not liking something does not make a person "aphobic" I have a phobia about spiders so I have arachnophobia, I don't like yogurt but I do not have yogurtaophobia. Some people do not like Americans, the British or Australians but is it a phobia.
I saw Cher in a TV interview recently and she spoke about her reaction to her daughter being a lesbian, very honest I thought. She was very gay friendly (some of her best friends and all that) but when it was closer and much more personal ….. well that was a different story.
Until we are tested personally most of do not know what our reaction will be. People may think they would not care if their children’s scout leader or teacher was homosexual but until they are faced with the situation they will never really know.
hey i haven't seen you up at 'Family' lately Bomber... perhaps you should show a little support for the big ladies by showing up on thursday when they do their little dance!
Ole Extra
Re: Kiwiblog. As a long-time reader of that blog I often struggle to understand how some of the commenters can honestly hold the opinions they tout.
I must presume that they emboldened by their internet anonymity. To be fair DPF does shoot-down/censor some of the more outrageous comments.
But still... 'scary and intolerant' are the words-de-jour over there sometimes.
Not to run down that blog in particular, but I find in general - in internet forums, newsgroups and blogs - some people develop a need not just to express an opinion or point of view, but there's a need to convince or brow-beat the other side into submission.
I just find that the 'left' will go - ehhh whatever, but the 'right' will often want to dominate and force a 'win' on the issue of the day.
Awaiting the hate... :-)
Also another observation. One of the blogosphere 'wings' is quick to take offense to strawman arguments, but this same 'wing' is also keen to propose just-as-lame strawman arguments.
This is in general. (Disclaimer: I am not in Kahoots with the Kriminal Krew of Klark and Ko. Krikey no, with Khrist as my witness, I Kondemn such Karry-on.)
Again, awaiting the hate... :-)
Shit i don't see a hetero parade, i am sure most are happy to heterosexual, but don't need 2 parade up & down Queen St, in their
Calvin Klein's, just 2 prove it.
Oh come on. Heterosexuality is paraded all over the media ad nauseum. Puts a parade down a street or 2 once a year in the shade in comparison.
And Dan Carter in his undies is celebrated throughout the media as something het women drool over... tho I'm sure there are less celebrated men turning a lascivious eye on the ads as well.
And yes, Cher was honest about her deep-seated anti-gay attitudes. But she confronted them in herself and now is a very strong supporter of her lesbian daughter and the LGBT community.
cg
'Surveys'. I am a skeptic. If you survey people and ask if they wash their hands after they use a toilet over 90% will say they do, secret camera evidence tells a very different story.
Most people are deluded about who and what they are. Many people answer surveys with what they think is the 'correct' answer, a bit like job interviews. Some people are good at IQ tests but hopeless in real life, some people are good at surveys but wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them in the face.
I read some research that said those with excellent abilities and qualities usually underestimate their achievements and talents, while those who are under average tend to significantly over estimate how great they are.
We all know people who tell anyone who will listen about how generous, smart, liberal (or whatever) they are, when, what we see in reality is the total opposite. Speak to people who have tested those around them in real life and they will often tell you they got a shock about who stood by them and who ran.
Test others but most of all test yourself - if you dare.
We are all entitled to preferences and dislikes. I dislike all religion and its followers, I dislike smokers, I dislike heavy drinkers, I dislike obese people, I dislike people who don’t like dogs and generally make a choice to avoid all of them. I am sure the list of people who dislike and avoid me is much longer, so what, lost of us prefer to associate with those who reflect our own preferences, lifestyle and tastes.
I am no great fan of homosexuality, not that I think about it often, mostly I am indifferent. Although I think homosexuality is just another anti-women group, I don’t see female homosexuals getting the attention, money and power of the boys.
The highly political version worries me. I can’t stand that damn film censor, he is totally out of touch with reality and he cheated on his wife and kids. As for his sneering, vanity and ego, nothing self-effacing or humble about that boy. It also looks to me like that pretty boys club looks after its own, just how many government jobs and contracts do they get, just much of Wellington is run by that gang, just how much tax-payers money do goes into their pockets. If you don’t play in their club I can’t see you landing a high ranking, cushy little government number these days. They are the 21st century free masons, women kept on the margins making the tea as usual..
I sometimes feel the outrages, parading, Audi TT and Mercedes sports car types, sneer at boring heterosexual people whose life revolves more around paying the electric bill, worrying about overtime and getting to the supermarket, than which club to go to at the weekend. It seems that the clubbing, cruising types have high-jacked homosexuality, I wonder how representative they really are.
Are homosexuals really more likely to hang around parks and public toilets looking for a 1-minute stand, take rent boys home, go out in fancy dress, have organised casual nights off from their partners every week, be into porn, have 1,000’s of very brief encounters, and all the other extreme behaviours and lifestyles we read about than heterosexuals or is that just an image the high earning, attention seeking groups have promoted.
I really don’t know, maybe most homosexuals are worrying about the mortgage and getting on with ironing and shopping like most of us, maybe most are as boring as me – if they are they won’t have much chance of landing that cushy government job either.
Shit i don't see a hetero parade, i am sure most are happy to heterosexual, but don't need 2 parade up & down Queen St, in their
Calvin Klein's, just 2 prove it.
Oh come on. Heterosexuality is paraded all over the media ad nauseum. cg
Please media and the Hero parade is 2 different thing cg.... homosexuality is also all over the media and in main stream films.... I think what HBM was saying is about the heroes parade, why is there one? Council forks out for it which will make that my tax money...as well
Freedom
Heroes Parade ... Boobs on Bikes ... there you go, two parades for two different sets of sexual preference.
NS
how offen is there been the boobs on bikes NS very recent and just once wasnt it, are you sure it was a parade, i thought it was a protest of some sort....
Freedom
How stupid do you sound Anon, whatever one you are. What do you mean hetrosexuality is forced into everybodies faces?
I have yet to see a parade of men and women getting it on down Queen street advertising how empowered they are to be able to put dicks into vaginas. Most of my gay mates think the parade is cringeworthy at best as much as we support equal rights for all.
Taxpayers and rate money is best spent looking after people whe need it rather than people wanting to flaunt their sexuality.
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