More than Half of Russians Believe Sexual Orientation is Innate and Not Result of Propaganda, VTsIOM Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 10 – At a time when some in the Putin regime are pushing to impose criminal penalties on any talk about homosexuality in adults – there is already a legal ban on any discussion of that orientation directed at children – a VTsIOM poll finds that more than half of Russians believe sexual orientation is innate and unaffected by propaganda.

            According to the polling agency which has links to the Kremlin, 51 percent of Russians say that sexual orientation is innate, and 55 percent say that it is impossible to change this in adults by means of propaganda (wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/netradicionnye-otnoshenija-ikh-propaganda-i-vlijanie-na-seksualnoe-povedenie).

            Only 15 percent say that homosexuality is a choice, although 26 percent say that it is a combination of innate characteristics and life experiences, the polling agency reports. Strikingly, young people are more likely to believe it is a combination of factors than are members of other age cohorts.

            This poll replicates one conducted a decade ago. Over the last ten years, the share of Russians who say they have encountered propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations has doubled from six percent to a still low 12 percent. But the share who say they have homosexual friends has fallen over the last year from 82 percent to 65 percent.

            At the same time, the share who say there are LGBT representatives in their communities has risen from eight percent to 15 percent, with 20 percent more now saying that there may be gas people among their acquaintances but that they are not certain about that. Eight years ago, that figure was 11 percent points lower.