The main opponents of the advances of the gay rights movement in Brazil have generally been conservatives. Religion is the most cited reason for opposing gay rights. Regionally, opposition to the gay rights movement has been strongest in rural interior regions.
A national study from 2005 found that 80% of the Brazilian population opposed homosexuality and another survey in 2010 found that 63% of the population opposed civil unions between homosexual couples.
[177] Followers of the Catholic and Protestant faiths, specifically the Pentecostal and historical Protestant denominations, are the most likely to oppose homosexuality.