Attitudes of the Estonian population have become significantly more positive and more and more people support LGBT rights, according to a recent LGBT public opinion survey by the Estonian Human Rights Centre. 64 percent of Estonians support the Registered Partnership Act, which is 15 percentage points more than two years ago. Commendably, the number of supporters of the Registered Partnership Act has increased among both the Estonian-speaking and non-Estonian-speaking population. The public opinion survey was conducted by Turu-uuringute AS in the spring of this year.
“Attitudes towards LGBT people and the need to guarantee their rights have improved significantly over the past decade, and the biggest change has occurred in the last two years,” said Liis Grünberg, Head of Research at Turu-uuringute AS.
For the first time, there are significantly more people who consider homosexuality acceptable than those who do not. According to the survey, 53 percent of Estonians over the age of 14 consider homosexuality to be completely or somewhat acceptable. In the 2019 survey, homosexuality was acceptable to 41 percent of respondents.
71 percent of Estonians believe that LGBT people should be protected by law from discrimination not only in the field of work but also in education, health care and access to goods and services. “The survey shows that the majority of the Estonian people are friendly and stand for a society that respects all human rights. The intolerant are vocal, but they are in a clear minority,” said Egert Rünne, director of the Human Rights Centre.
In the last two years, the support for the Registered Partnership Act has also increased significantly among Estonian residents. While 49 percent of respondents were in favour of it in 2019, a recent survey shows that 64 percent of people in Estonia support the Registered Partnership Act. More than half of the respondents consider the adoption of the Registered Partnership Act as an important step in ensuring human rights and equal treatment in Estonia.
“The increase in support for the Registered Partnership Act is consistent, and it is time for the parliament of Estonia to understand that the implementing acts of the Registered Partnership Act must be adopted so that all families living in Estonia feel safe,” Rünne explained.
The Human Rights Centre has been publishing public opinion surveys on LGBT issues since 2012. Polls are conducted every two years by Turu-uuringute AS and the 2021 survey is the fifth, Estonia’s largest report on LGBT rights.
Take a look at the survey!
The conduct of the survey was supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
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