Straight Britons ‘care more about animal rights than gay equality’

Straight Britons appear to care more about animal rights than LGBT rights, according to surveys conducted by Pride in London organisers.

The group said the results of two surveys – one among cisgender straight people (those that identify with the gender they were assigned at birth) and another completed by LGBT respondents – “showed a stark difference in the concerns among the two populations”, reports ITV News.

The “most shocking of the results”, says GayTimes, is that just 3% of the cisgender straight population said that tolerance for individuals of different sexualities and gender identities was of importance to them, compared to 44% of the LGBT population.

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“When you compare that to the 7% of straight people who are more concerned about animal rights, it means over double care more about that issue than LGBTQ tolerance”, adds the paper.

Less than half - 49% - of the straight people surveyed “completely agreed that people in the LGBT+ community had the right to live their life as who they are without fear of judgement or prejudice”, reports Sky News.

While straight people were unconcerned about gay rights, “the survey showed that LGBTQ+ people are still vulnerable to abuse and discrimination”, adds the broadcaster.

The report found that one in three LGBT people surveyed had been verbally abused because of their identity within the last year, and 44% felt threatened by others.

Chairwoman of Pride in London, Alison Camps, said: “Our research shows that, although many in this country may think LGBT+ people have achieved equality, the reality is that we are by no means equal.

“Together with our straight allies, we see it as our collective responsibility to challenge harmful attitudes across society and highlight the reality that LGBT+ people face in all aspects of their lives.”

Both surveys were carried out by Yougov and showed some similarities between the two groups, with both straight and LGBT people agreeing that the NHS was the issue that most concerned them about the future.

But overall, the “results clearly highlight that much more work needs to be done to educate straight people on the struggles and issues LGBTQ people face on a daily basis”, says Gay Times.