Nearly one in every two Indians disapprove of same-sex relationships in post Article 377 era, finds a survey. (Photo: Reuters)

The Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality exactly one year ago on September 6. The apex court's verdict was welcomed by many - ranging from gay rights activists to the United Nations, but how much has it been accepted by the Indian society?

Not much. Nearly one in every two Indians disapprove of same-sex relationships in post Section 377 era, finds a survey.

According to a report titled 'Politics and Society Between Elections 2019', published by the Azim Premji Foundation and Lokniti, CSDS, the Indian society is still conservative about the idea of accepting same-sex relationships.

"The results indicate a deeply conservative society where one in every two respondents strongly believe that same-sex relationships have no place the in society," the report said.

While the number of respondents strongly disagreeing on same-sex relationships was huge, the number of people strongly agreeing of the same was abysmal. Less than ten per cent respondents accepted homosexual relationships in the society.

The share of respondents who do not wish to comment on the issue was also remarkably high.

The survey was conducted in 12 states with over 24,092 respondents in 2018. It was also the first time that questions pertaining to homosexuality were asked after the Supreme Court's judgement.



State-wise comparison

State wise Statistics show huge inter-state variations when it comes to accepting/rejecting homosexual relationships.

The greatest support to the LGBT+ relationships came from Uttar Pradesh - nearly 36 per cent respondents in the state agreed that sexual relationship between two men or women should be accepted by the society.

Uttar Pradesh is followed by Delhi and Tamil Nadu where 30 per cent respondents showed acceptance to the LGBT+ community.

Mizoram, Nagaland, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala were the states that showed the highest rejection to same-sex relationships.

Around 87 per cent respondents in Mizoram strongly disagreed with the acceptance of LGBT+ community in the society, followed by Nagaland (63 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (63 per cent) and Kerala (58 per cent).

Maximum respondents from West Bengal expressed no opinion on the acceptance of same-sex relationships. Six out of every 10 respondents in West Bengal did not express any opinion on acceptance of homosexual relationships.

West Bengal is followed by Assam (over 40 per cent), Punjab (39 per cent) and Tripura (37 per cent) who did not express any opinion on homosxual relationships.



Religion

Across religions, Christian community in India strongly disapproved accepting same-sex relationships. Nearly 70 per cent Christian respondents disagreed with the statement - 'Sexual Relationship between two men or two women should be accepted in society'.

Christians are followed by Muslims where 50 per cent respondents rejected same-sex relationships. The rejection was 40 per cent among Hindus and Sikhs, the report maintained.

Acceptance to homosexual relationships was the highest in the Hindu community, though the percentage was almost half of those rejecting the same.

Around 22 per cent Hindus showed acceptance to homosexual relationships while only 13 per cent Muslim and Christian respondents showed acceptance to same-sex relationships.



Urban-Rural

While it might seem that rural India is more conservative than their urban counterparts, in case of accepting homosexual relationships, the situation is different.

The survey results showed that the percentage of respondents showing acceptance to same-sex relationships both in rural and urban areas was the same - 19 per cent.

However, the percentage of respondents rejecting homosexual relationships was higher in urban areas than the rural areas. Urban areas turned out to be more conservative and rejected same-sex relationships 5 per cent more than rural areas did (the report did not give exact figures).



Is acceptance to homosexuality elitist?

A popular generalised perception tags the LGBT+ movement to be somewhat elitist. However, the statistics show mixed results.

The relationship between one's economic class and acceptance towards homosexual relationships turned out to be ambiguous, the report said.

The percentage of economically weak respondents showing acceptance to homosexuality was 13 per cent, the same was 23 per cent in upper classes.

But looking at the rejection rates, upper class fares worse. Around 53 per cent upper class respondents disapproved of homosexual relationships while the rejection rate was 47 per cent among lower class respondents.

"The results suggest that class is not a significant determining factor on social attitudes towards sexual orientation," the report said.

The report also debunked the myth around literacy levels and acceptance to homosexuality.

It is noteworthy that the states, where the rejection to same-sex relationships is the highest, are also the ones with excellent literacy rates.

Mizoram and Kerala, where a substantial amount of population does not accept same-sex relationships, are also the ones where the literacy rates are above 90 per cent.