This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
Published on June 27, 2020, a survey by the Pew Research Center revealed a significant shift in global attitudes towards homosexuality.
According to the survey, which covered 34 countries, an average of 52% of people supported the acceptance of homosexuality, while 38% opposed it.
Associate Director of Global Attitudes Research at the Pew Research Center, Jacob Poushter, noted that the changes were 'towards more acceptance rather than less.'
Many countries saw a considerable increase in acceptance, including a 21-point rise in South Africa and a 19-point increase in South Korea since the inaugural survey in 2002.
India, which first participated in the survey in 2014, saw a 22-point surge in acceptance.
However, views on homosexuality remain regionally divided, with a majority in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East opposing acceptance, compared to most people in the Americas and Western Europe who support it.
Openness to LGBT issues was also tied to economic development, with countries like Sweden having positive views of homosexuality, while lower-income countries like Nigeria had more negative opinions.
Since the Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001, 27 other United Nations member states have passed laws allowing gays and lesbians to wed.
Despite progress, gay sex remains illegal in 68 countries, with six countries imposing the death penalty for consensual same-sex acts.
However, change is afoot, with lawmakers in Gabon's lower house of parliament voting to reverse the country's anti-gay sex law.
Younger people were more likely to accept being gay than their older peers, with nearly 80% of South Koreans aged 18-29 supporting acceptance, compared to just 23% of those over 50.
