The attitudes of the people of Estonia regarding the rights of LGBT people, including marriage equality, are becoming more positive year by year; over a half of the Estonian people now support equal marriage – six percentage points more than two years ago.
Considering that in 2012 there were 34 per cent in favor and 60 per cent against, the development over ten years has been rapid and one-way, the Estonian Human Rights Center said, citing a recent LGBT public opinion survey carried out by pollster Turu-uuringute AS in early April.
“Support for marriage equality is at 75 per cent among people aged 20-29. This is a clear message to political parties: if they want to include the younger population in their support base, they must stand up for the human rights of all people of Estonia,” Egert Rünne, the executive director of the Human Rights Center, said.
More people understand a family is a family
In the last two years, the support of residents of Estonia in matters related to adoption has also increased significantly – more than half of the population thinks that a partner of the same sex should be able to adopt the child of their partner.
“For over a decade, the Human Rights Center has, through personal stories and court cases, drawn attention to the problems experienced by same-sex couples who just want to live a secure family life. The results of the survey show that more and more people understand that a family is a family, regardless of whether children are raised by a father and a mother, a mother and a mother or two fathers,” Kelly Grossthal, the head of litigation at the Human Rights Center, noted.
The Human Rights Center has been publishing public opinion surveys on LGBT issues since 2012. The surveys are conducted every two years by Turu-uuringute AS and the 2023 survey is the sixth and largest report on LGBT rights in Estonia.
