Descriptive Study to Assess The Attitude Of Young Adults Towards LGBTQIA+ Community Among In The Selected Areas Of Himachal Pradesh

 Introduction: LGBTQIA+, a phrase for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and +. Over the past decade, LGBTQIA+ has gained more acceptances. Most LGBTQIA+ people remain closeted, fearing discrimination from their closed ones, who might see homosexuality as shameful. Discrimination is still present in rural areas, where LGBTQIA+ face rejection from their families and friends and they are forced to hide their identities and for opposite sex marriages. LGBTQIA+ community is still fighting for equal rights and acceptance because they are looked down upon all the time. Being LGBTQIA+ is not a problem or it is a choice, they are individuals with sexual preferences that differ from the normal.1 Method: Quantitative approach and descriptive design was adopted, sample comprised of 380 young adults selected using convenient sampling from selected areas of Himachal Pradesh. Data was collected using Attitude Toward Homosexuality Scale for Indians. Results: The results of the study showed that the female participants were more 328 (72.9%) than male participants 122(27.1%). The age group were 15-18 years; 73 (16.2%), 19-22 years; 319 (70.9%) and 23-25; 58 (12.9%). Majority of young adults were undergraduate 321 (71.3%), 80 (17.8%), 39 (8.7%), 8 (1.8%), 2 (0.4%) had graduation and above, secondary education, no formal education and primary education respectively. Most of them were from rural area 211(46.9%), 138 (30.7%), 101 (22.4%) were from urban and semi-urban area respectively. Majority of young adults were unmarried 439 (97.6%) and rest 11 (2.4%) were married. Findings of this study showed that 328 (53%) had positive attitude, 209 (46%) had neutral attitude and 3 (1%) had negative attitude towards LGBTQIA+ community. Findings of this study shows that the significant association was found with age (χ2= 14.62; p <0.05), education (χ2= 34.0; p <0.05), mother’s occupation (χ2= 20.04; p <0.05), socio-economic status (χ2= 23.60; p <0.05), and marital status (χ2= 13.14; p<0.05).