Mapping Homosexuality Acceptance Across The World: What The Results Tell Us

Here in the bubble of the Big Apple and R29 HQ, it's easy to think that everyone out there has the same level of tolerance that we do, especially when it comes to the issue of marriage equality and gay rights in general. After all, with state after state legalizing same sex marriage it seems like the whole world is at a turning point in equality. Well, thanks to the latest Pew study, we're getting an insight into worldwide acceptance of homosexuality — and, the results are not as positive as we'd hoped.

Not surprisingly, the whole of North America is almost uniformly pro-gay rights, but across the Atlantic, acceptance is a whole different ball game — Africa is almost entirely anti-gay, and Nigeria is the only surveyed country where only one percent of the population believes society should accept homosexuality. The same goes for most of Northern Africa, the Middle East, and China. One unexpected result is the slim 32 percent acceptance rate in South Africa, a country that has made significant strides in the gay rights movement.

While it may seem like a large portion of the world is against homosexuality, it's important to note that the majority of anti-gay countries are Islamic societies, or other backgrounds whose traditional teachings reject same sex relationships. Although, we were slightly surprised to see countries like Tunisia, traditionally thought of as more cosmopolitan, rejecting the idea of gay rights. Tell us, what do you think about these findings? Do you wish more countries were willing to accept homosexual citizens? (Andrew Sullivan)