Survey: 7 in 10 Romanians do not trust homosexuals

Six in ten Romanians would not want to have a gay family member, and 29% would not want a Roma relative, according to a survey conducted by IRES and presented by Hotnews.ro. The survey was conducted at the request of the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD).

Even if most respondents claimed that sexual orientation (52%) and ethnicity (72%) don't matter in the relationship with a person, homosexuals and the Roma received the lowest trust levels.

As such, 74% of those surveyed said they don't trust homosexuals, and 72% don't trust the Roma. Immigrants (69%), Muslims (68%), people with HIV/ AIDS (58%), people of a different religion (58%), Hungarians (53%) and Jews (46%) follow in the distrust ranking.

The survey revealed a high intolerance towards homosexuals: 59% would not want to be related to them, and 52% would not accept to be friends with them. In the case of immigrants, 39% would not want to be related to them, and 30% would not accept to be friends with them. At the same time, 39% would not want to be related to Muslims, and 28% would not want to be friends with them; 31% would not want to be related to people of different religions, and 23% would not accept to be friends with them; 27% would not want to be related to people with HIV/ AIDS, and 23% would not accept to be friends with them.

By ethnicity, 29% would not want to be related to Roma, and 18% would not accept to be friends with them; 24% would not want to be related to Hungarians, and 15% would not accept to be friends with them; 21% would not want to be related to Jews, and 14% would not accept to be friends with them.

More than two thirds of the respondents don't agree with gay marriage, and 60% disagree with the idea of civil partnerships. Over 60% think Muslims are potentially dangerous and 52% believe immigrants should be stopped at the borders of Europe.

The fear of difference appears in reference to people with disabilities as well, the survey showed. A total of 51% of respondents think these people need to be committed into special institutions.

Half of the respondents do not trust foreigners who criticize Romania, and 35.5% think George Soros is a character who harmed Romania.

Still, 70% of the respondents say they know what hate speech is. The most frequent places where they witnessed such speech were the street (53%), the workplace (24%), and the circle of friends (19%).

The survey was conducted between November 26 and December 10, on a sample of 1,300 respondents. The error margin is of +/- 2.7%.