It not just our financial markets that are backwards at the moment – the British public are also tightening their belts when it comes to supporting gay rights.
A sex poll taken by Sunday's Observer newspaper reveals that, on average, half of the British public oppose both gay adoption and same sex marriage, giving those attending next month's National Adoption week something new to chew over.
Even with a more increasingly open gay community, 56 per cent of the British public still oppose queer adoption – a statistic that surprised the British Association of Adopting and Fostering.
Harvey Gallagher, a spokesman for the adoption agency, hit back by saying: “Parenting capacity is not to do with sexuality, it is the law that same sex couples can adopt and we believe that this is the right thing.”
He also suggested that the figures do not reflect the opinions of those working in social services.
And while this figure is high, it's in keeping with the other finding that just under half of the British population, 45 per cent, still oppose gay marriage – a number which is just 5 per cent lower than when the civil partnership act was introduced in 2005.
Additionally, another 40 per cent believe the age of consent should be higher for gay people than for straight couples. But perhaps what is most shocking is that 24 per cent of British people think that gay sex should be made illegal.
Derek Munn, Stonewall’s Director of Public Affairs, responded by saying: “This disturbing figure shows that, despite advances in legislative equality, the campaign to make Britain a truly equal country for lesbians and gay people must go on.”