The Estonian Human Rights Centre, which publishes public opinion surveys on LGBTQ+ issues, has revealed that attitudes of the people of Estonia regarding the rights of LGBTQ+ people, including marriage equality, are becoming more positive year by year with over half of Estonian people supporting equal marriage – six percentage points more than two years ago.
According to the Centre, the last ten years has been rapid and one-way: in 2012 34% were in favour and 60% against.
“Support for marriage equality is at 75% 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 Runne, the executive director of the Human Rights Centre, said.
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.
Kelly Grossthal, the head of litigation at the Human Rights Centre, said: “For over a decade, the Human Rights Centre 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.”
The Human Rights Centre has been publishing public opinion surveys on LGBTQ+ 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 LGBTQ+ rights in Estonia.
