Attitudes Toward Lesbians, Gay Men, and Their Rights in a Sample of Ecuadorian Cisgender Men and Women

Abstract

Since 1997, Ecuador has undergone a series of changes to ensure family rights to sexual minorities. However, there is still limited research regarding attitudes toward them. This study focused on the attitudes toward lesbians (L), gay men (G), and their rights. A sample of 318 cisgender Ecuadorians who responded to an online survey was recruited. Analyses indicated that men, heterosexuals, who practice their religion, attend more frequently to religious services, and identify as conservative showed higher levels of prejudice against LG as well as less support toward their rights. Further, participants who did not have LG acquaintances, friends, family members, and those who did not know any LG parented family showed less support toward these populations. Multiple regression analyses indicated that believing that a person's sexual orientation is learned significantly predicted the attitudes measured in our study. Implications of these findings to help reduce prejudice against LG individuals are discussed.

Validation of Herek’s attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men scale among undergraduates in mainland China

“…In line with previous studies (Detenber et al, 2013;Song et al, 2014;Liu, 2020;Hermosa-Bosano et al, 2021), our findings have suggested that exposure to homosexual content or having prior contact with homosexuals might contribute to greater tolerance of homosexuals. Given the fact that less than half of them were exposed to homosexual content or had a homosexual friend, undergraduates should be recommended to read materials depicting homosexuality in a positive way (e.g., explaining that homosexuality is the same as heterosexuality and is also a normal sexual orientation) or increase positive encounters with LG (Altemeyer, 2002;Salvati et al, 2019) such as inviting some volunteers to share their personal stories (Eick et al, 2016) to dispel myths, reduce fear, promote mutual understanding and finally reduce prejudice toward homosexual individuals.…”

“…Consistent with previous studies (Herek and Gonzalez-Rivera, 2006;Yu et al, 2011;Liu and Sun, 2015;Zhang et al, 2016;Liu, 2020;Hermosa-Bosano et al, 2021), men were more likely than women to express negative attitudes toward LG (in particular homosexuals of the same gender, i.e., gay men). This finding can be explained by the fact that machismo culture still prevails in mainland China.…”

“…(Salvati et al, 2018(Salvati et al, , 2021. Consistent with previous studies (Liu and Sun, 2015;Hermosa-Bosano et al, 2021), heterosexuals were more likely to exhibit negative attitudes toward G. However, no statistically significant difference existed between these two groups in attitudes toward L.…”

“…Consistent with previous studies (Sakalli, 2002;Detenber et al, 2013;Song et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2016;Badenes-Ribera et al, 2017;Hermosa-Bosano et al, 2021), undergraduates who believed that the root cause of homosexuality is genetic (i.e., uncontrollable) expressed less negative attitudes toward LG, compared with those who believed that homosexuality is a learned characteristic (controllable). This finding is not surprising since it conforms to Weiner's attribution theory of controllability, which enables us to systematically examine how individuals or groups attribute homosexuality.…”

“…Those who answered "yes" were classified as having prior contact with homosexuals, and those who answered "no" or "I don't know" were classified as lack of contact (Badenes-Ribera et al, 2017;Salvati et al, 2019;Piumatti and Salvati, 2020). Additionally, the respondents were also classified into two groups based on their answers to the question about the origins of homosexuality: attributing it either to controllable factors (e.g., early life events, family environment and personal choices) or uncontrollable factors (i.e., genetic and biological causes) (Detenber et al, 2013;Costa et al, 2019;Vecho et al, 2019;Hermosa-Bosano et al, 2021). In China from childhood, boys are taught to be strong, brave, ambitious and independent.…”