Abstract
Legislative activity and controversy concerning the issue of homosexual rights and practices has intensified in Britain over the last decade. Despite this increase in intensity, however, the question of mass public opinion in relation to homosexual rights and practices has received little empirical investigation. In an effort to remedy this situation, this paper focuses on the influence of party identification in determining public attitudes towards homosexuals. Using data from the British Social Attitudes Surveys, the results suggest that although party identification exerts an independent and statistically significant effect on attitudes towards homosexuals, in all cases, however, these effects are both secondary and variable. Other equally, if not more salient, determinants include: gender, education, age, occupation, and type of homosexual relationship. Of these various socio-demographic variables, both age and education stand out as having the strongest and most consistent effect. In other words, at least as far as current British society is concerned, anti-homosexual views are most prevalent among both older individuals as well as the lesser educated. © 1995 World Association for Public Opinion Research.