Socio-political Modernisation: Attitudes of LGBTIQ(+) Respondents (August/September 2023)

The study on socio-political modernisation: attitudes of LGBTIQ(+) respondents was conducted by Kantar Public on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government. In the survey period 21.08.2023 to 04.09.2023, German-speaking persons aged 16 and over from the LGBTIQ(+) community were interviewed in online interviews (CAWI) on the following topics: attitude to life, social environment, political attitudes and expectations of politics, concept of family, planned changes to family law (including community of responsibility), improvement of the rights of queer people (including the Self-Determination Act, Transfusion Act), own experiences of discrimination and political commitment. The respondents were selected using a quota sample from an online access panel.<br>1. Attitude towards life, social environment: Life satisfaction; satisfaction with various aspects (education and qualifications, health situation, family situation, own financial situation); dealing with own gender identity in the social environment (family, circle of friends, with work colleagues/at work, with classmates/ fellow students, with other acquaintances); dealing with own sexual orientation in the social environment in the aforementioned groups; identification with the term queer; agreement with statements about one´s own gender identity (my gender identity is a central component of my personality, I feel comfortable with my gender identity, even if I could change my gender identity, I would not do so); agreement with statements about one´s own sexual orientation (my sexual orientation is a central component of my personality, I feel comfortable with my sexual orientation, even if I could change my sexual orientation, I would not do so).

2. Political attitudes and expectations of politics: interest in politics; satisfaction with various areas in Germany (health care, social security, situation on the labor market, functioning of democracy, dealing with other opinions, education system, social cohesion); political effectiveness (politicians care about what people like me think); trust in institutions (judiciary, queer associations and initiatives, federal government, political parties, Bundestag, media, police, local authorities, city administration, churches, queer commissioner of the federal government); expectations of politics with regard to various political demands on the subject of equality (e.g. equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender identity, higher penalties for perpetrators of discrimination, gender and sexual diversity should be included in school curricula, the needs of queer people must be included in the training of medical and social professions, etc.); responsible actors for the equality of queer people in society (federal government, EU Commission, city/municipality, citizens, the queer community itself, society as a whole).

3. Legal changes: Concept of family (also when people live together without children, when people live together unmarried, when same-sex couples live together, when more than two adults raise children together, when people take permanent responsibility for each other, even without being related or living in a relationship); planned changes in family law: attitude towards the introduction of a community of responsibility; opinion on the extension of the right to a name (possibility for children to have the surname of both parents as a double surname).

4. Improvement of the rights of queer people: queer people need more protection against discrimination vs. do not need more protection; opinion on the expansion of gender designations in the gender entry; opinion on the inclusion of a ban on discrimination based on sexual identity in the German Basic Law; opinion on the planned self-determination law for queer people; opinion on the legal adaptation of the parentage law; opinion on the planned amendment to the Transfusion Act; expectation of more acceptance and tolerance for queer people through the planned or already implemented changes; opinion on the pace of change; expected change in social cohesion through measures such as a ban on discrimination against queer people, the Self-Determination Act and the amended law on blood donation.

5. Prejudice and discrimination: prevalence of discrimination in Germany based on ethnic origin, sex or gender identity, sexual orientation (e.g. gay, lesbian, bisexual), age, religion or belief, disability or chronic illness; prevalence of prejudice against queer people in Germany; changes in prejudice against queer people in Germany over the past 10 years; equality for queer people in Germany as an important issue that concerns the whole of society vs. Only those affected are interested; evaluation of various legal regulations on the equal treatment of queer people (legal equality of homosexual marriage, equal rights in adoption for same-sex couples, equal support for artificial insemination for same-sex couples); agreement with various statements regarding queer people (queer people make society more open and tolerant, too much attention is paid to the concerns of queer people, more must be done for the social recognition of queer people, queer people must be legally equal in all areas, I can´t do anything with different sexual orientations, I can´t do anything with different gender identities, I don´t care about the sexual orientation of others, I don´t care about the gender identity of others, everyone has the right to freely choose their gender identity regardless of their birth sex, queer people deserve the same respect as everyone else, our society would lack something without queer people, the lifestyle of queer people makes social cohesion more complicated, too many concessions to alternative living arrangements lead to social problems); own experience of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; areas in which discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity was experienced (e.g. during school and training) e.g. during school and training, at work, in stores or in the service sector, at insurance companies or banks, etc.); experience of discrimination against other queer people; knowledge of contact points in the event of discrimination; desired offers of help or support in the event of discrimination (open), knowledge of rights if the respondent is a victim of discrimination themselves; assessment of the idea of a law against discrimination; knowledge of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) in Germany; assessment of this law; places where the federal and state governments should promote educational programs to prevent discrimination against queer people (in schools and youth work, in the workplace, in cultural institutions such as museums, in medical facilities, in counseling facilities for queer people); sufficient efforts in Germany to reduce all forms of discrimination; opinion on discrimination in Germany on the basis of gender identity (people who do not feel they belong to the sex they were assigned at birth are often treated with less respect than others/ have worse chances on the job market, people who feel they are neither a man nor a woman have worse chances on the job market); opinion on discrimination based on sexual orientation (non-heterosexual people are usually treated with the same respect as others, non-heterosexual people are often treated with hostility in public when they kiss or show other forms of affection, non-heterosexual people who work in education or train young people are often distrusted, non-heterosexual young people are often bullied at school).

6. Commitment: forms of own political commitment to queer projects and demands (participation in signature campaign/online petition, comments posted in social networks/online forums on political issues, participation in rallies or demonstrations, involvement in a group or association that supports the concerns of queer people); party sympathy.

Demography: age; age groups; federal state; region Germany West/East; education; sex; preferred name for gender identity; other name (open); sexual orientation; sexual orientation: other orientation (open); employment; marital status; self-location social class; size of location; household size; number of children in household; immigration history: migration background (respondent himself/herself, one parent, both parents); net household income (grouped).

Additionally coded were: Respondent number, weighting factor.