SAN ANTONIANS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD HOMOSEXUALITY PART 2--HOW SAN ANTONIO ATTITUDES COMPARE TO NATIONAL ATTITUDES?

By James D. Steger and Arturo Vega, Ph.D*

ISSUE: Part I of this two-part issue brief examines San Antonians’ attitudes towards homosexuality from data gathered from the Metropolitan Research and Policy Institute’s (MRPI’s) San Antonio Survey 1999. This second part compares San Antonio’s attitudes to national opinion data. Here we compare how similar local attitudes towards homosexual issues are to national opinions.

DATA AND METHODS: The annual San Antonio Survey has been produced consecutively by UTSA Social and Policy Division faculty since 1995, with surveys also conducted in 1993, 1991 and 1986. The annual San Antonio Surveys are probability surveys (randomly produced telephone numbers), topical in content, and used to measure attitudes and perceptions of San Antonians on important issues of the day. San Antonio Survey 1999 was conducted from October 11-18, 1999 and resulted in 544 respondents (standard error ±4.2%). The 1999 survey, in addition to a variety of other issues, for the first time included three questions pertaining to attitudes about homosexuals (see Part 1):

• Whether the sexual relations of two consenting adults of the same-sex are "Always Wrong," "Almost Always Wrong," "Wrong Only Sometimes," or "Not Wrong At All"?
• Do you agree or disagree that homosexual couples should have the right to marry one another? and,
• Do you think being homosexual is something people "Chose to Be," or do you think it is "Something They Cannot Change?"

The wording of the first question (same-sex sex) is identical to wording used by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, which conducts annual General Social Surveys (GSS). The latest available GSS data were from the 1998 survey, which represents responses from a stratified random sample of 38,000 persons nationwide. Using the same-question from a national data set permits a comparison of local attitudes to national.

DISCUSSION: In 1999, when San Antonians were asked "Whether the sexual relations of two consenting adults of the same-sex are "Always Wrong," "Almost Always Wrong", "Wrong Only Sometimes," or "Not Wrong At All?" forty-six (46) percent, nearly half of all of the respondents, expressed the view that same-sex sex as "Always Wrong" (See Figure 1). Seven (7) percent of the respondents also stated that same-sex sex was "Almost Always Wrong." Thirteen (13) percent thought that same-sex sex relations were "Wrong Only Sometimes" and slightly over a third (34%) stated that same-sex sexual relations were "Not Wrong At All".

Figure 2 displays the 1998 GSS results on attitudes about same-sex sexual relations. In this year, a majority of respondents (58%) reported that same-sex sexual relations were "Always Wrong". Six (6) percent of respondents stated that same-sex sex was "Almost Always Wrong" and seven (7) percent of respondents stated that same-sex sexual relations were "Wrong Only Sometimes". Almost thirty (29%) percent of respondents stated that same-sex sexual relations were "Not Wrong At All".

Age was a (statistically) significant but weak predictor of attitudes toward same-sex sex in both the local and national surveys (p<.05; see Table 1). At the national level, for example, a majority of respondents aged 66 or over "Strongly Opposed" same-sex sexual relations (77.3%). In contrast, among respondents aged 18-30, close to forty-four (43.6) percent reported that same-sex sexual relations were "Not Wrong At All".

Table 1: San Antonio and National Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Sex by Age Groups in Percentages, 1998 (NORC) 1999 (MRPI)

Chi-Square=93.78, Sig.=0.000; Cramer’s V=0.134 (NORC) Chi-Square=33.14, Sig.=0.000; Cramer’s V=0.152 (MRPI)

In San Antonio, a similar pattern was found among age groups. Here, fifty-eight (57.9) percent of the respondents 65 and older felt that same-sex sexual relations are "Always Wrong." Among 18-30 year old respondents, however, fifty-two (51.7) percent expressed the view that same-sex sexual relations are "Not Wrong At All."

While found to be significant in the national data (p<. 01), educational attainment was not related to attitudes toward same-sex sex in San Antonio. Among educational levels on the national level, for example, seventy (69.4) percent of the respondents with a high school diploma or less were most likely to view same-sex sexual relationships as "Always Wrong." In contrast, only forty (40.4) percent of individuals with graduate degrees (more than a Bachelors degree) expressed a similar position. Education is moderately associated with attitudes toward same-sex sex relationships.

Income was not significantly related to attitudes toward same-sex sex in the San Antonio survey but statistically related at the national level (p<.05). Among income groups nationally, fifty-six (56) percent of the respondents earning less than $20,000 a year thought same-sex sexual relations was "Always Wrong." As income level increased over the next two-income categories, tolerance of same-sex sexual relations also increased (53.4% of the $21,000-35,000 category perceived same-sex sexual relations as "Always Wrong," compared to 38.8% of those with incomes between $36,000-60,000 category expressing the same view). Finally, forty-five (45) percent of the respondents that made more than $60,000 annually viewed same-sex sexual relations as "Always Wrong."

Examining responses by race or ethnicity revealed no statistically significant differences (p<.01) among different ethnic groups at the local level however there were significant differences nationally. Sixty-nine (69) percent of African American respondents in the 1998 GSS expressed the view that same sex sex was "Always Wrong". This finding compares to fifty-five (55.4) percent of white respondents and fifty-one (50.7) percent of Hispanics who expressed the same view.

No significant differences in either sample in attitudes toward same sex sex were found when examining responses by gender.

Examining attitudes toward same-sex sexual activities and their relationship to political party identification, however, revealed significant differences (p<.05) among partisans in both national and local samples (see Table 2).

Table 2: San Antonio and National Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Sex by Party Identification in Percentages, 1998 (NORC), 1999 (MRPI)

Chi-Square=63.77, Sig.=0.000; Cramer’s V=0.137 (NORC); Chi-Square=19.51, Sig.=0.003; Cramer’s V=0.160 (MRPI)

At the national level, a majority of the respondents, regardless of political party membership, viewed same-sex sexual relations as "Always Wrong". Republicans exhibited the most opposition (71%), while Democrats and Independents felt about the same (Democrats 56.2%, Independents 51.5%).

In San Antonio, while a similar pattern emerged, views opposing same sex sexual relations were not as strongly expressed as at the national level. Here a majority (54.9%) of Republicans, perceived same-sex sex as "Always Wrong" This is a sixteen (16) percent difference from the national level. Over forty (42.9) percent of the Independents expressed the view that same-sex sex was "Not Wrong at All", in contrast, to thirty-three (32.7) percent at the national level. Nearly identical percentages of both local (38.8) and national (34.3) Democrats expressed the view that same-sex sex was "Not Wrong at All;" twenty-three (23) percent of local Republicans expressed a similar view in contrast to sixteen (16.5) percent of the Republicans nationwide.

OBSERVATIONS: Overall, San Antonians exhibit more tolerance toward same-sex sexual relationships than nation. People of different ethnicities, educational and income levels in San Antonio exhibited little differences in their views toward same-sex sex—perhaps a byproduct of living in a metropolitan diverse community. Each of these variables was statistically significant at the national level. Even Republicans living in San Antonio exhibited less intolerance than their national counterparts to same-sex sexual relationships.