Egert Rünne
Executive Director
egert.rynne@humanrights.eeAttitudes towards LGBT topics in Estonia
The Human Rights Centre has commissioned seven public opinion surveys on LGBT rights over the past fourteen years. The surveys were conducted by AS Turu-uuringute in 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2026.
The 2026 survey shows that support for LGBT rights remains historically high, but after years of growth, attitudes are declining in several areas.
Attitudes
The survey shows that a significant proportion of Estonia’s population (around 40%) has knowingly had contact with homosexual people, which is substantially higher than in previous years. Such contact has increased particularly within families. Although attitudes towards gay men and lesbians have remained relatively stable over the past three years, personal closeness has been the most important factor in improving attitudes, with 44% of respondents citing friends, acquaintances, or relatives as having influenced their views.
More than half of respondents (51%) continue to consider homosexuality completely or rather acceptable, although this represents a decline compared to the 2023 result (56%). Differences are most evident when comparing respondents by gender, age, language of communication, and level of education. Among Estonian-speaking respondents, 58% consider homosexuality acceptable, compared to 34% among non-Estonian-speaking respondents. In the 18–29 age group, 74% of respondents consider homosexuality completely or rather acceptable, reflecting the more open attitudes of younger people.
A total of 41% of respondents consider homosexuality completely or rather unacceptable. The main reasons given are related to natural law, biology, and the traditional family model. Among non-Estonian-speaking respondents, religious justifications have increased from 6% in 2023 to 11% in 2026.
Respondents continue to perceive society as less tolerant of homosexuality than it actually is. Only 43% of respondents believed that homosexuality is acceptable to society.
When examining the boundaries of acceptance of homosexuality, a clear improvement could be observed across many indicators up to 2023, particularly among non-Estonian speakers. By 2026, however, there has been a slight decline in acceptance across most of the situations examined. The decline has been smaller among non-Estonian-speaking respondents than among Estonian speakers, although disagreement with the statements still remains more common among the non-Estonian-speaking population.
Tolerance remains high in everyday interactions: 76% of respondents would buy something from a salesperson whom they know to be gay or lesbian, and 70% would visit a doctor who is gay or lesbian. However, tolerance declines in situations involving children. A total of 47% consider it unacceptable for a child to be exposed to media or films depicting same-sex relationships, while 35% consider this acceptable. Uncertainty is greatest when respondents assess their own personal reactions: 27% are unable to say how they would feel if their own child were gay or lesbian.
Rights
A clear three-tier pattern emerges in attitudes towards the rights of homosexual people: general rights, marriage, and adoption. Most of the population supports the protection of fundamental rights (such as protection from discrimination and public hostility), but the level of support decreases with each subsequent issue, reflecting its greater sensitivity.
Although attitudes towards the rights of homosexual people among the non-Estonian-speaking population have improved significantly over the years, they remain considerably more negative than those of the Estonian-speaking population.
Marriage equality
Today, 53% of people in Estonia support marriage equality, a figure similar to the 2023 result. The strongest support is found among 18–29-year-olds, among whom support reaches 82%. Over the past eleven years, attitudes have changed rapidly: in 2012, 34% of the population supported marriage equality, while 60% opposed it.
Voters of different political parties are clearly polarised on the issue of marriage. Support for marriage equality is strongest among voters of the Social Democratic Party (92.5%) and the Estonian Reform Party (88.1%). A majority of supporters of Parempoolsed also consider the right of same-sex couples to marry important (73.0%). The strongest opposition is found among voters of Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE): only 15.7% support same-sex marriage, while 73.7% oppose it. Among voters of the Estonian Centre Party, opponents also outnumber supporters, with 34.4% supporting marriage equality and 55.3% opposing it.
The electorate of Isamaa is the most divided on this issue. Among its supporters, 50.9% support marriage for same-sex partners, while 44.8% oppose it. Among voters without a party preference or those who are undecided, attitudes are generally more supportive, with approximately 60% of respondents favouring marriage equality.
Transgender people
Belief in the existence of transgender identity has declined over the past three years, while uncertainty has increased. About half of respondents (49%) believe that transgender identity exists, but believing in its existence does not automatically imply acceptance: only 37% of respondents consider being transgender acceptable. For the first time since 2019, the share of respondents who find transgender identity unacceptable exceeds the share who find it acceptable. Differences in opinion are most evident when comparing respondents by gender, age, language of communication, and level of education.
Here too, respondents perceive society as more conservative than it actually is: only 21% of respondents believe that transgender identity is accepted in society. Similar to attitudes towards homosexuality, acceptance declines when questions move from everyday situations to issues involving children. However, in the case of transgender identity, the level of acceptance is lower across all topics.
People