How views on homosexuality vary around the world
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.


Acceptance of homosexuality is growing in most of the world, but not everywhere, according to Pew Research data from 34 countries.
Driving the news: 54% of South Africans say homosexuality should be accepted in society, up from 32% in 2013.
- Similarly large increases were documented in India (15% to 37%), Turkey (9% to 25%) and the U.S. (60% to 72%) — though Greece (53% to 48%) and Lebanon (18% to 13%) went in the opposite direction.
The gap: Vast majorities in Western European countries like France (86%) say homosexuality should be accepted, while some countries in the Middle East and Africa — Tunisia (9%), Kenya (14%) — are far less accepting. Israel (47%) is an exception.
- In Poland, where gay rights have become a key issue in the current presidential campaign, supporters of the ruling Law and Justice party (36%) are less likely to accept homosexuality than opposition supporters (59%).
- But in France, Germany, the U.K. and Sweden, even supporters of far-right parties overwhelmingly believe it should be accepted.
The flipside: Attitudes haven't changed globally as much as one might think. In 2002, 17% of Ukrainians, 22% of Russians, 38% of Bulgarians and 83% of Czechs said homosexuality should be accepted. Those numbers are all lower nearly two decades later.
Worth noting: The Philippines (73%), often viewed as socially conservative, is among the more progressive countries on this issue.
