New research funded by Japan’s Education, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has shown that the majority of Japanese citizens now support and are in favour same-sex marriage.
The Hiroshima Shudo University research found that 51.1 percent of the almost 1,300 Japanese voters surveyed a supported the legalisation of same-sex marriage while only 41.3 percent said they were opposed to marriage equality.
The research also found that 51.7 percent of those surveyed indicated that they were comfortable with men having romantic feelings other men, compared to 56 percent being comfortable with women having romantic feelings other women.
Despite the majority being in support of marriage equality and being comfortable with same-sex relationships, 30 percent of respondents said they would feel uneasy if one of their friends was gay.
60 percent of respondents to the survey also indicated that they would be tolerant of a neighbour or colleague came out as transgender, however comparatively 70 percent said they would not be comfortable if one of the relatives was to transition to another gender.
“Many people are accepting of romantic feelings between same-sex people, but there is strong intolerance of such feelings when it comes to those they are familiar with and to same-sex sexual conduct,” researchers explained.
Last Updated on Dec 1, 2015
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