Although 92% of the Dutch think gay men and women should be able to ‘live their lives as they want to’, 35% consider two men kissing in public to be offensive, according to research by the government’s socio-cultural think tank SCP.

One in four people find the sight of two women kissing to be offensive, while 12% find a heterosexual kissing in public to be objectionable.

At the same time, 78% support gay marriage, 65% support adoption by same-sex partners and only 7% would consider it a problem if their children had a gay teacher.

The figures date from 2012 and show an overall improvement in attitudes towards gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, the researchers say.

The figures also show people over the age of 70 and people who are strongly religious are more likely to be anti-gay. At the same time, the percentage of people who are negative about homosexuality in general has gone down from 15% in 2006 to 8% in 2012.

School pupils are also more positive, the researchers say.

Worrying

Nevertheless, emancipation minister Jet Bussemaker said the results of the survey are ‘very worrying’.

‘Emancipation requires maintenance,’ she told website Nu.nl. ‘One of the most important things we can do is to keep approaching youngsters. This is where acceptance starts.’

Gay rights lobby group COC said the survey ‘shows the veneer of acceptance in the Netherlands is thinner than we think’.