Editing Public display of affection (section)

==Same-sex==
{{See also|Societal attitudes toward homosexuality}}
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Public displays of affection between individuals of the same [[sex]] may or may not suggest [[homosexuality]] depending on the cultural context. For example, in many [[African cultures]] it is socially acceptable for people of the same sex to participate in public displays of affection,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ag0uduy5bYEC&q=homosexual+display+of+affection&pg=PA221|title=Twins in African and Diaspora Cultures: Double Trouble, Twice Blessed|last=Peek|first=Philip M.|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-253-22307-4|page=221}}</ref> whereas in other countries such as the [[United States]] and [[Portugal]], it is considered{{By whom|date=April 2025}} to be indicative of homosexuality. Public displays of affection tend to be determined largely by culture, which greatly influences perceptions{{By whom|date=April 2025}} of same-sex PDA.{{fact|date=January 2023}}

In the contemporary Western society, attitudes towards same-sex public displays of affection vary across cities much like they vary across countries. In populations where the majority of individuals have high cultural values and are more accommodating, same-[[sex]] or same-[[gender]] public displays of affection are more likely to occur.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gaines |first1=S. O. |date=2005 |title=Cultural Value Orientations, Internalized Homophobia, and Accommodation in Romantic Relationships |url=http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/1871/17366/2/Gaines%20Journal%20of%20Homosexuality%2050%202005%20u.pdf |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=97–117 |doi=10.1300/j082v50n01_05 |pmid=16368666 |s2cid=18723729 |hdl=1871/17366}}</ref>

Intolerance for homosexual PDA is commonplace in large swathes of society in many different cultures. For instance, in Portugal, [[LGBT]] individuals only act in ways that contend contemporary ideals{{Which|date=April 2025}} and political/economic agendas.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} Homosexual individuals in Portugal are less likely to partake in public displays of affection because their society is extremely critical of the act. They believe that by behaving according to what society deems appropriate, (e.g., only opposite-sex couples should partake in acts of public displays of affection), they are protecting themselves from being categorized as abnormal, odd, or deviant.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=de Oliveira|first1=J. M.|last2=Costa|first2=C. G.|last3=Nogueira|first3=C.|date=2013|title=The Workings of Homonormativity: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Discourses on Discrimination and Public Displays of Affections in Portugal|journal=Journal of Homosexuality|volume=60|issue=10|pages=1475–1493|doi=10.1080/00918369.2013.819221|pmid=24059969|s2cid=6744382}}</ref> Although same-sex marriage has been legal in Portugal since June 2010 (see [[Same-sex marriage in Portugal]]), LGBT people still refrain from public displays of affection for the most part.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In a [[Colorado]] high school, two [[yearbook]] staff resigned after they were informed that they could not print the relationship page because it had a photo of two females holding hands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/colorado-high-school-controversy-over-gay-pda/vGXNY/|title=Colorado High School Controversy|access-date=3 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082732/http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/colorado-high-school-controversy-over-gay-pda/vGXNY/|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> A spokesman for the [[New York City]] Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project declared in 2007 that "people are still verbally harassed and physically attacked daily for engaging in simple displays of affection in public. Everything changes the minute we kiss".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/fashion/18affection.html?pagewanted=all|title=A Kiss Too Far?|last=Trebay|first=Guy|date=18 February 2007|work=The New York Times}}</ref>