Exclusive: 60% of Brexit voters believe gay sex is unnatural

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

PinkNews Exclusive
Sex between two men is not natural, according to six in 10 Brexit voters who expressed an opinion on the matter.

50 years after homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England and Wales, a shocking new poll has revealed the number of people who oppose gay equality.

It also found that Leave voters strongly oppose children being taught about same-sex relationships in schools.

A gay kiss at Pride in London

The revelations come in a new YouGov poll for PinkNews.

Of those who expressed a view, 59 per cent of Brexit supporters believe gay sex is unnatural, compared to just 25 per cent of Remain voters with that opinion.

Furthermore, 68 per cent of Brexit voters who expressed a view believe children should not be taught about gay relationships in primary school, compared to 29 per cent of Remain voters.

Commenting on the survey, PinkNews Chief Executive Benjamin Cohen said: “It has long been suggested that Brexit supporters would be likely to be anti-LGBT rights but now we know that there is a potential correlation with voting for Brexit and opposing gay rights.”

A similar pattern held for those who voted Conservative at the last general election compared to Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters.

61 per cent of Tories who expressed an opinion said that gay sex is not natural, while 73 per cent of Labour voters and 78 er cent of Liberal Democrat voters believe gay sex is natural.

This comes despite the Conservative government’s progressive plans to review sex and relationship education in schools, and their commitment to update the Gender Recognition Act.


Mr Cohen added: “It is depressing that 50 years on from the Sexual Offences Act that so many people still think that gay sex is unnatural and that a third oppose gay couples having children.

“It is gratifying though to know that for younger people, gay relationships are considered perfectly natural and they strongly support gay parents and teaching young people about gay relationships.”

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalised same-sex acts between men in England and Wales, though only when both men were over the age of 21.

The law changed in Scotland in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982. Further equality came in 2000 with the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, which equalised the age of consent for gay and straight couples.