The Configuration and Determinants of Public Opinion on LGBTIQ+ Issues: Survey Evidence from Contemporary Italy

What determines attitudes on LGBTIQ+ issues in socioculturally ‘traditionalist’ Western societies? We seek to answer this question by looking at the case of Italy, a peculiar sociopolitical context in which the levels of LGBTIQ+ equality are still amongst the lowest in Western Europe, notwithstanding the rising politicisation of LGBTIQ+ issues in recent years. We employ original survey data devised to provide novel evidence concerning the attitudes of Italians on several LGBTIQ+ issues that are salient in the public debate, and their determinants. Leveraging a representative sample of the voting-age Italian population, we assess the impact of sociodemographic, attitudinal, and party-political predictors on a wide range of issues pertaining to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) and trans* and non-binary (TGNB) citizens. These include same-sex marriage, same-sex adoptions, rainbow families, simplified administrative procedures to change IDs for TGNB people, and the possibility for TGNB students to change their names in school and university registries. Descriptively, our data show an absolute majority of Italians in favour of greater LGBTIQ+ equality, although the distribution of attitudes varies across different issues, and the rights of TGNB people are generally more contentious. Further, our multivariate analyses show that pro- (anti-)LGBTIQ+ attitudes are primarily a function of left-wing (right-wing) political ideology, being a woman (man), secularism (versus being a catholic, especially if practising) and, in line with contact theory, having LGBTIQ+ relatives or friends. Instead, contrary to widespread expectations, LGBTIQ+ attitudes do not seem to be a matter of class or education in contemporary Italy.