A number of findings suggest that many Americans feel some tension between their desire to be fair to those who are different from themselves and a lingering unease with homosexuality itself. Survey questions about whether American society should accept homosexuality often draw different responses depending on the examples mentioned. This is generally an indication of public ambivalence. Surveys show that acceptance of gays and lesbians has risen significantly, and currently about half of Americans say homosexuality should be an acceptable lifestyle. Questions that raise the issue of fair treatment typically draw much higher levels of public support. For instance, substantial majorities of Americans say they support equal protection for homosexuals against hate crimes and equal rights in terms of housing and jobs. But while there is near-universal support for equal hiring in sales jobs and other occupations, smaller majorities support gays as teachers and clergy. Similarly, surveys show that slight majorities say a gay person could be a good role model and as good a parent as anyone, yet they are divided on whether they would allow a homosexual to baby-sit their child and half say they oppose allowing gay couples to adopt.

Acceptance of homosexuality has grown significantly