Gay Acceptance Abroad is growing in many countries. A new Pew Research Center study shows broad acceptance of homosexuality in North America, the European Union and much of Latin America, but widespread rejection in predominately Muslim countries, Africa and parts of Asia and Russia. Pew says there is much greater acceptance in countries where religion is less central to people’s lives. Interesting observation. Puerto Vallarta, my old hometown, has a large gay community in a country where over 80 percent of citizens subscribe to Catholicism. In the Pew poll, though, 61 percent of Mexicans said society should accept homosexuality.
Younger people throughout the world have a much more tolerant view of homosexuality than their elders. This can be seen clearly in the U.S. on a range of social issues. Pew also says women are consistently more accepting of homosexuality than men.
Acceptance is most prevalent in the European Union countries. Spain’s 88 percent acceptance level, for example, is the highest in the world. Germany, the Czech Republic and Canada all had acceptance levels above 80 percent. Countries higher than 70 percent were: Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Philippines and Argentina. In the United States, a very religious country, just 60 percent agreed that society should accept homosexuality, although that number has grown from 47 percent in 2007.
On the far side of the acceptance spectrum is Nigeria, where acceptance was at a dismal 1 percent. Senegal, Ghana, Uganda, Pakistan, Indonesia, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine were all under 5 percent.
A few developed countries like Poland, Russia, South Korea and China all had acceptance rates below 50 percent.
And, there are still a significant number of countries in the world where homosexuality still is illegal.