LGBT+ Tolerance: Judicial Decisions and Social Campaigns in Africa

• In Event: Pride and Prejudice: Global Perspectives on LGBT+ Visibility and Tolerance

Abstract

To what extent are attitudes toward LGBT+ individuals shaped by institutions and information? Although LGBT+ individuals in some countries around the world are enjoying the gradual expansion of civil liberties and fundamental protections, in many other countries they are experiencing increasing government repression and social sanctions. In this context, it remains unclear to what extent popular attitudes are conditioned by the decisions of state institutions like courts or the social campaigns of civil society organizations -- in either conservative or liberal directions. We assess such dynamics in this paper through a three-wave panel survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of Kenyans throughout 2019. Respondents were asked about their attitudes toward LGBT+ individuals, including criminal penalties and social sanctions, before and after Kenya's High Court issued a decision upholding the country's colonial-era anti-sodomy law. Respondents were also randomly exposed to informational and empathy treatments modeled after those typically employed by LGBT+ rights organizations. Our analysis shows that the court's conservative decision did have a negative effect on attitudes toward LGBT+ individuals, but that both informational and empathy treatments can still significantly move respondents toward relatively more tolerant positions. We further find that informational and empathy treatment effects can persist even after several months of initial exposure, though empathy effects are generally stronger. Taken together, our findings provide evidence for how social campaigns might condition or even mitigate the negative impact of political institutions.

Authors

• Leonardo R. Arriola, University of California, Berkeley

• Danny Choi, Brown University

• Siri Gloppen, University of Bergen

• Malcolm Langford, University of Oslo