Study finds Buddhism is the least homonegative religion

Research in the Journal of Homosexuality says that, of all major religions, Buddhists are the least averse to LGBT lifestyles.

Lion’ s Roar25 August 2015
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Photo © European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari.

A new study in the Journal of Homosexuality has shown that, of all the world’s religions, Buddhism is the least homonegative. “Homonegativity” is defined as “an aversion to homosexuality as a social practice or way of life.”

The study looked at 79 countries to determine how religion and religiosity affect attitudes to homosexuality. Results indicated that, while religious people are on average more homonegative than non-religious people, Buddhists are the least homonegative.

These findings are similar to those of another study in 2015 by the Public Religion Research Institute. The research looked at 40,000 interviews of people in the US from all sorts of religious persuasions and found that, when it comes to same-sex marriage, “the most supportive major religious groups are Buddhists.”

Lion s Roar Staff

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