How Has View Over Homosexuality Changed Over The Years

A member of the LGBT community takes part in a 2019 Pride walk in India. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images) — A fellow member of the LGBT community takes function in a 2019 pride walk in India. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images)

This analysis focuses on whether people around the globe retrieve that homosexuality should be accustomed by society or not. The full question diction was, "And which one of these comes closer to your opinion? Homosexuality should exist accepted by society OR Homosexuality should not be accepted by society."

The question is a long-term tendency, first asked in the U.S. by the Pew Enquiry Center in 1994 and globally in 2002. Respondents had an option to not reply the question (they could volunteer "don't know" or pass up to answer the question). Respondents did not get whatsoever further instructions on how to interpret the question and no meaning problems were noted during the fielding of the survey.

The term "homosexuality," while sometimes considered anachronistic in the current era, is the most applicable and easily translatable term to use when asking this question across societies and languages and has been used in other cross-national studies, including the World Values Survey.

For this study, we used data from a survey conducted across 34 countries from May 13 to Oct. 2, 2019, totaling 38,426 respondents. The surveys were conducted face up to face up across Africa, Latin America and the Middle Due east, and on the phone in United States and Canada. In the Asia-Pacific region, face-to-face surveys were conducted in India, Republic of indonesia and the Philippines, while phone surveys were administered in Australia, Nippon and South Korea. Across Europe, the survey was conducted over the phone in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK, just face up to face in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hellenic republic, Hungary, Italy, Republic of lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Hither are the questions used for the study, forth with responses, and the survey methodology.

Despite major changes in laws and norms surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people effectually the world, public opinion on the acceptance of homosexuality in society remains sharply divided by country, region and economic development.

As information technology was in 2013, when the question was final asked, attitudes on the acceptance of homosexuality are shaped by the land in which people alive. Those in Western Europe and the Americas are more often than not more accepting of homosexuality than are those in Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, the Centre East and sub-Saharan Africa. And publics in the Asia-Pacific region mostly are split. This is a function non only of economical development of nations, but likewise religious and political attitudes.

Only fifty-fifty with these sharp divides, views are changing in many of the countries that have been surveyed since 2002, when Pew Research Center first began asking this question. In many nations, there has been an increasing acceptance of homosexuality, including in the United States, where 72% say information technology should be accepted, compared with just 49% equally recently equally 2007.

Many of the countries surveyed in 2002 and 2019 have seen a double-digit increase in credence of homosexuality. This includes a 21-point increase since 2002 in South Africa and a 19-point increment in South Korea over the same time period. Republic of india also saw a 22-bespeak increase since 2014, the first time the question was asked of a nationally representative sample there.

There also have been fairly large shifts in acceptance of homosexuality over the by 17 years in 2 very different places: Mexico and Japan. In both countries, just over half said they accustomed homosexuality in 2002, but at present closer to seven-in-x say this.

In Republic of kenya, only 1 in 100 said homosexuality should be accepted in 2002, compared with 14% who say this now. (For more on credence of homosexuality over time among all the countries surveyed, see Appendix A.)

In many of the countries surveyed, there too are differences on credence of homosexuality by age, didactics, income and, in some instances, gender – and in several cases, these differences are substantial. In addition, faith and its importance in people's lives shape opinions in many countries. For case, in some countries, those who are affiliated with a religious group tend to be less accepting of homosexuality than those who are unaffiliated (a group sometimes referred to as religious "nones").

Political ideology also plays a function in acceptance of homosexuality. In many countries, those on the political right are less accepting of homosexuality than those on the left. And supporters of several right-fly populist parties in Europe are also less probable to see homosexuality as adequate. (For more on how the survey defines populist parties in Europe, see Appendix B.)

Attitudes on this issue are strongly correlated with a country's wealth. In general, people in wealthier and more than adult economies are more accepting of homosexuality than are those in less wealthy and developed economies.

For example, in Sweden, the netherlands and Germany, all of which have a per-capita gross domestic production over $fifty,000, acceptance of homosexuality is amidst the highest measured across the 34 countries surveyed. By contrast, in Nigeria, Kenya and Ukraine, where per-capita Gdp is under $ten,000, less than two-in-ten say that homosexuality should be accustomed past club.

These are among the major findings of a Pew Research Heart survey conducted among 38,426 people in 34 countries from May 13 to Oct. two, 2019. The study is a follow-up to a 2013 report that establish many of the same patterns every bit seen today, although at that place has been an increment in credence of homosexuality across many of the countries surveyed in both years.

Varied levels of acceptance for homosexuality across world

The 2019 survey shows that while majorities in sixteen of the 34 countries surveyed say homosexuality should exist accepted by society, global divides remain. Whereas 94% of those surveyed in Sweden say homosexuality should be accepted, just 7% of people in Nigeria say the same. Across the 34 countries surveyed, a median of 52% agree that homosexuality should exist accepted with 38% saying that it should be discouraged.

On a regional footing, acceptance of homosexuality is highest in Western Europe and Due north America. Central and Eastern Europeans, however, are more than divided on the subject, with a median of 46% who say homosexuality should be accepted and 44% saying it should not be.

Merely in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle E, Russia and Ukraine, few say that social club should have homosexuality; but in South Africa (54%) and Israel (47%) do more than a quarter agree this view.

People in the Asia-Pacific region show picayune consensus on the subject. More than iii-quarters of those surveyed in Commonwealth of australia (81%) say homosexuality should be accepted, every bit do 73% of Filipinos. Meanwhile, only 9% in Indonesia agree.

In the three Latin American countries surveyed, stiff majorities say they have homosexuality in order.

Pew Research Center has been gathering information on credence of homosexuality in the U.S. since 1994, and there has been a relatively steady increment in the share who say that homosexuality should be accustomed by lodge since 2000. Yet, while information technology took virtually 15 years for acceptance to rise 13 points from 2000 to simply before the federal legalization of gay wedlock in June 2015, in that location was a well-nigh equal rise in acceptance in simply the four years since legalization.

While acceptance has increased over the past two decades, the partisan divide on homosexuality in the U.S. is wide. More than eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (85%) say homosexuality should be accustomed, merely only 58% of Republicans and Republican leaners say the same.

At the same time, the U.S. still maintains 1 of the everyman rates of credence among the Western European and North and South American countries surveyed. (For more on American views of homosexuality, LGBT bug and same-sex wedlock, encounter Pew Research Center'due south topic folio here; U.S. political and partisan views on this topic can be plant here.)

In 22 of 34 countries surveyed, younger adults are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to say homosexuality should be accepted past lodge.

This difference was most pronounced in Southward Korea, where 79% of xviii- to 29-year-olds say homosexuality should be accustomed by society, compared with only 23% of those 50 and older. This staggering 56-bespeak difference exceeds the next largest deviation in Japan past 20 points, where 92% and 56% of those ages xviii to 29 and 50 and older, respectively, say homosexuality should be accepted past society.

In well-nigh of the countries surveyed, in that location are no significant differences between men and women. Still, for all 12 countries surveyed where there was significant divergence, women were more likely to approve of homosexuality than men. South korea shows the largest split, with 51% of women and 37% of men saying homosexuality should be accepted by club.

In near countries surveyed, those who accept greater levels of instruction are significantly more likely to say that homosexuality should be accepted in gild than those who have less education. ¹

For case, in Hellenic republic, 72% of those with a postsecondary instruction or more say homosexuality is acceptable, compared with 42% of those with a secondary pedagogy or less who say this. Significant differences of this nature are found in both countries with mostly high levels of acceptance (such equally Italy) and low levels (like Ukraine).

In a similar number of countries, those who earn more money than the country's national median income too are more likely to say they accept homosexuality in society than those who earn less. In Israel, for example, 52% of higher income earners say homosexuality is acceptable in lodge versus merely 3-in-ten of lower income earners who say the same.

In many of the countries where there are measurements of ideology on a left-correct scale, those on the left tend to exist more than accepting of homosexuality than those on the ideological correct. And in many cases the differences are quite large.

In South korea, for case, those who classify themselves on the ideological left are more than twice as probable to say homosexuality is acceptable than those on the ideological right (a 39-percentage-indicate difference). Similar double-digit differences of this nature appear in many European and North American countries.

In a similar vein, those who back up correct-wing populist parties in Europe, many of which are seen by LGBT groups every bit a threat to their rights, are less supportive of homosexuality in gild. In Espana, people with a favorable opinion of the Vocalization party, which recently has begun to oppose some gay rights, are much less likely to say that homosexuality is acceptable than those who do not back up the political party.

And in Poland, supporters of the governing PiS (Police and Justice), which has explicitly targeted gay rights every bit anathema to traditional Polish values, are 23 percentage points less likely to say that homosexuality should be accepted by gild than those who do not support the governing party.

Similar differences appear in neighboring Hungary, where the ruling Fidesz political party, led past Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, also has shown hostility to gay rights. Simply even in countries similar French republic and Germany where credence of homosexuality is high, there are differences between supporters and non-supporters of key right-wing populist parties such as National Rally in France and Alternative for Federal republic of germany (AfD).

Religion, both as it relates to relative importance in people'due south lives and actual religious affiliation, also plays a large part in perceptions of the acceptability of homosexuality in many societies beyond the globe.

In 25 of the 34 countries surveyed, those who say religion is "somewhat," "not likewise" or "not at all" important in their lives are more than probable to say that homosexuality should be accepted than those who say organized religion is "very" of import. Among Israelis, those who say religion is not very of import in their lives are virtually three times more than likely than those who say religion is very important to say that lodge should accept homosexuality.

Significant differences of this nature appear across a broad spectrum of both highly religious and less religious countries, including Czech Republic (38-percentage-point difference), South korea (38), Canada (33), the U.S. (29), Slovakia (29), Greece (28) and Turkey (26).

Religious affiliation too plays a cardinal role in views towards credence of homosexuality. For example, those who are religiously unaffiliated, sometimes chosen religious "nones," (that is, those who identify equally atheist, agnostic or "cipher in particular") tend to be more accepting of homosexuality. Though the opinions of religiously unaffiliated people tin can vary widely, in virtually every country surveyed with a sufficient number of unaffiliated respondents, "nones" are more accepting of homosexuality than the affiliated. In most cases, the affiliated comparison group is made up of Christians. Just fifty-fifty among Christians, Catholics are more probable to have homosexuality than Protestants and evangelicals in many countries with enough adherents for assay.

1 example of this blueprint can exist establish in Due south Korea. Koreans who are religiously unaffiliated are about twice as likely to say that homosexuality should be accepted by society (lx%) equally those who are Christian (24%) or Buddhist (31%). Similarly, in Hungary, 62% of "nones" say society should accept homosexuality, compared with but 48% of Catholics.

In the few countries surveyed with Muslim populations large enough for assay, acceptance of homosexuality is particularly depression among adherents of Islam. But in Nigeria, for instance, acceptance of homosexuality is depression among Christians and Muslims alike (half-dozen% and 8%, respectively). Jews in Israel are much more than likely to say that homosexuality is acceptable than Israeli Muslims (53% and 17%, respectively).