What do Japanese teens and young people think about gays?

Question:

Are they tolerant of their life style? Would you be friends with them? Why or why not? This life style is getting more accepted in society and seen as normal, compared to the past. I'm not gay. I'm just wondering. Thanks :)

Answer:

While homosexuality had never been viewed as a sin in Japanese society and religion, sodomy was restricted by legal prohibition in 1873, but the provision was repealed only seven years later by the Penal Code of 1880 in accordance with the Napoleonic Code.[1] Exposure to Western thought and societal changes during the Meiji period have influenced the way that homosexuality is viewed by both the Japanese government and by the population at large since the end of the 19th century.