Generally speaking, Britain is a socially liberal country, at least relative to the rest of the world. So most people assume the country is one where being openly gay is accepted. We have gay marriage, unlike much of the rest of the Europe and most of the rest of the world. Britain’s isn’t a country where socially conservative religions are particularly prominent, Northern Ireland notwithstanding. The UK is home to a plethora of charities and NGOs like Stonewall or Amnesty International, who help defend gay rights around the world. Recently, the government wants to enhance Britain’s reputation for tolerance by making it easier to change your gender, thus hopefully establishing the nation as a haven for the transgendered.

However, the reality is more complicated. YouGov, one of the few polling agencies to accurately predict the 2017 election, conducted a poll on people’s attitudes to gay rights. http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ox04ln7wgb/PinkNewsResults_170724_Sexuality_W.pdf. They asked three questions: whether you approve of gay men becoming parents, whether children should be taught about gay relationships at primary school, and whether gay sex is natural. On all three questions, a majority of people gave the gay-friendly answer (excluding the don’t knows.) But there were some interesting caveats.

The first was support for gay rights by party affiliation. On all three questions, Conservative voters bucked the nationwide trend and generally opposed gay rights. This suggests that by passing gay marriage and now by extending transgender rights, the Conservative Party has largely acted against the wishes of its supporters. Now that isn’t necessarily a bad thing- the party badly needs younger and more liberal voters if it wishes to regain its majority. But it does mean that for now, a significant proportion of Conservative MPs will not hold gay-friendly views, even if they can’t translate such attitudes into public policy. Therefore, if as a gay Briton, you don’t believe that the fight for gay rights has been won, it may be safer not to vote for your local Conservative MP- as a precaution if nothing else. It’s also worth pointing out that Labour and Liberal Democrat voters support gay rights emphatically, suggesting that there aren’t very many socially conservative ‘Blue Labour’ people out there.

The second cleavage in public opinion was the Leave-Remain Brexit divide. Remain voters were far more gay-friendly than Leave voters. Now I’m not suggesting that all Leave voters are homophobes, but YouGov’s data certainly suggests that they are more likely to be. I think this is largely due to Remain voters being more liberal across the board. Remain voters, myself included, value individual freedom very highly. Conversely, Leave voters value social cohesion, a strong sense of identity and collective sovereignty above individual liberty. For some who supported Leave, gay people don’t fit into their preconceived notions of what being British involves. This also suggests that nostalgia for an earlier time played a key role in driving the Leave vote. Nostalgia is generally expressed more by social conservatives, because Britain in the past was a more socially conservative country. Many who voted Leave don’t like what modern Britain has become. Part of this is for economic reasons; they miss the secure, well-paid blue collar jobs that are a rarity now. But they also like Britain’s past social makeup: the gendered nature of the labour market and household, the relative ethnic homogeneity, and of course, the lack of prominence given to homosexuality.

Another interesting divide was the gender divide. Now this wasn’t as stark as the party affiliation or Leave-Remain divide. But the fact is, men are more likely to oppose gay rights than women. Growing up as a young boy in Britain, I remember that being called ‘gay’ was the worst insult you could be called. I even cried once when someone called me gay. For some reason, male homosexuality seems offensive to a lot of men. It is perceived as a threat to traditional notions of masculinity. Some men don’t like how camp the stereotypical gay man is, or how gay men seem to find it so easy to talk to women. It may also be the case that men are simply more intolerant than women, at least overtly. Go to any far-right rally or march, and it will be overwhelmingly male. Conversely, go to any protest against environmental degradation or income inequality, and the chances are it will be majority female.

The widest division found in the poll was the generational divide: young people are far more in favour of gay rights than their elders. I don’t find this surprising at all; the old grew up in a time when people weren’t taught about gay relationships at school. It’s encouraging that attitudes have improved over time, and as the young replace the old, they will continue to do so. But it’s important to remember not to alienate the old, whether it’s in public policy or the culture. This doesn’t mean being homophobic at all. But it does mean being patient and courteous to the elderly when challenging any attitudes they may still hold. It means explaining to them what homosexuality is and how gay and lesbian people live, rather than shouting at them and accusing them of being bigoted. Like everyone else, the elderly are products of their time. I think more people ought to consider that.

In my opinion, the most interesting contrast was the attitudes between the relatively well-off and the less fortunate. The richer respondents to the poll were generally very enthusiastic towards gay rights, whereas the working class participants were more divided. The class divide on gay rights has all sorts of implications. It means by emphasising their social conservatism, the Conservative Party will always have at least some working class support. Equally, by being very progressive, the Liberal Democrats are unlikely to shake off their reputation as a middle class party. Unfortunately, the poll at least somewhat confirms the stereotype that exists amongst the middle class, that the working class are less tolerant. It may be that social conservatism is partly a product of material hardship; when people are struggling economically, they are less likely to believe that those who face social discrimination are really struggling. Hence, social conservatives are less likely to believe that homophobia, sexism, racism and xenophobia are widespread. But there’s cause for optimism here. If we can improve the living conditions of the working class, we may also be able to diminish opposition to liberalism at the same time.

The only other breakdowns in support for gay rights measured in the poll were regional and in terms of sexuality. In the case of the latter, gays, lesbians and bisexuals were emphatically in favour of gay rights, obviously. In the case of the former, London and Scotland were the most gay-friendly, the Midlands and Wales were generally the most hostile. There was a very slight North-South divide, with the South being more liberal, but nothing statistically significant.

Overall the poll is a reason for optimism. Britain is a country where the gay and lesbian community is generally welcomed and accepted, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. But the poll also implies that socially conservative Britain is deeply alienated from and disillusioned with wider society. It found that older people, poorer people, Conservative voters and men were more opposed to gay rights; these were the same groups that voted for Brexit, hence the relative lack of enthusiasm for gay rights amongst Leave voters. However, as I explained with the elderly, the solution is not to insult people or exert a sense of moral superiority. These people face some severe challenges that many of the rest of us are far less likely to experience. Older people are often economically vulnerable and physically in poor health. Poorer people obviously face a tougher time than the rich. Men die younger and commit suicide at higher rates than women. As a society, we must address these issues, rather than pretend they don’t exist by dismissing people as homophobes. Or else, social conservatism and right wing populism will persist for decades.