Attitudes toward minorities: a comparison of homosexuals and the general population

As a prelude to a media campaign to improve the public image of gays, a gay rights organization in Columbus, Ohio, constructed a questionnaire to assess perceptions of and attitudes toward gays and various other minority groups including blacks, Jews, women, communists, and recovering alcoholics. The questionnaire was administered to two samples in the central Ohio area: a sample of the greater Columbus population at large, and a sample of gays and lesbians. This article reports on the comparative findings from these two samples.