Religion, Contact, and LGBT Acceptance: Survey Evidence from South Korea

What factors explain South Korean public opinion on LGBT issues? Via an original survey, we tackle the influence of religion and of knowing a Korean LGBT person on two issues: same-sex marriage and comfort with an LGBT neighbor. We find that of religious identifications studied, only Protestants corresponded with lower support, while knowing a Korean LGBT person strongly correlated with support of both. Moreover, we find that comfort with an LGBT neighbor falls in between acceptance of North Korean and Muslim neighbors.