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.
