Marriage OK, But No Kissing! Say Straights to Gays

A new study led by an Indiana University researcher has found that although straights support legal rights for same-sex couples, they still don't want to have it flaunted in their faces.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the study, in the December issue of the American Sociological Review, polled 1,000 people of all orientations. Respondents were asked given one of three scenarios involving either a straight, gay or lesbian couple that were unmarried but living together, and asked whether they should receive legal benefits including hospital visitation, inheritance rights, family leave and marriage.

Researchers found that straight respondents were almost equally supportive of legal benefits for both gay and straight couples, at about 70 percent.

But when it came to public displays of affection, or PDAs, it turns out that straights just weren't that into it. Although 95 percent said they approved of a straight couple kissing on the cheek in public, only 55 percent said they supported gay men doing the same. Lesbians fared better, at 72 percent, with -- surprise! -- straight men saying they were much more into seeing lesbians kiss than gay men. Perverts.

Lead author of the study Long Doan of the Department of Sociology at Indiana University said that 53 percent approved legal marriage for gay men, and 59 percent for lesbians - figures that are consistent with national polls, but at odds with the larger support of gay rights.

"Heterosexual respondents tend to think of marriage more in the way they think of public displays of affection, whereas gays and lesbians seem to think of it more in terms of rights," Doan said.

In a twist, the UK Daily Mail reports that gays and lesbians are even less into PDAs, with only 45 percent of gay respondents saying it was acceptable for straight couples to French kiss, and 39 percent saying it was okay for gay men to French kiss.

Doan posited that this could be due to fears that PDAs could lead to harassment and hate crimes. But most gays and straights alike hold this truth to be self-evident: when things get hot and heavy, get a room.