A new study has found that acceptance
of gay men and lesbians has increased in 90 percent of surveyed
countries over the past 20 years.
According to the study released by NORC
at the University of Chicago and the Williams Institute, acceptance
has increased an average of 0.9 percent annually per nation.
“Available research on global public
acceptance of lesbians and gay men is limited,” Andrew Park,
director of International Programs at the Williams Institute, said in
releasing the findings. “This study shows a clear trend toward
increasing acceptance across the globe.”
Social researchers examined hundreds of
surveys conducted over the last three-and-a-half decades.
Key findings include the observations
that women are on average one and a half times more accepting than
men and that attitudes can vary greatly even within continents. One
example given is Africa, where 38 percent of South Africans are
accepting compared to 2 percent of Ghanians.
Found to be most accepting were the
countries in Northwestern Europe, followed by the following clusters
of counties: Australia/Canada/New Zealand/United States, Southern
European countries, Latin American countries, former Soviet
Union/Eastern & Central Europe, Asian countries, African
countries and majority Muslim countries.
(Read
the complete report.)