The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists

P(h)ew, I'm glad to be in one of the 86% countries.

R1, I know Tunisia is regarded as progressive for a Northern African/Middle Eastern country (it is possibly the biggest success story of the Arab Spring) but 9% approval for homosexuality is grim. At the same time, I'm sure many "straight" men there have no issues having sex with men behind closed doors as long as they aren't actually called gay.

You think that acceptance in the low 70s is not bad, OP? That's a terrible number for the supposed greatest country in the world.

Someone here said Generation Z are more homophobic and sex-negative than Millennials, but I didn't believe it.

R3, no, it's not bad. Especially when you consider the numbers will be much higher for those of us who live in the Upper Midwest and coastal areas.

Yes, R5, it is bad. I don't care how you try and spin it, it's not a good number and is low compared to the rest of the Western world.

R2, the statistics are also somewhat confounded by the collectivist nature of cultures which will influence how people answer in polls. Sexual liberty has also something to do with the value a society puts on individual freedoms.

As you point out, Tunisians will reject homosexuality openly (likely because their imam says it's wrong) but that doesn't mean that some of the don't like to fuck a man in the ass on the DL. I guess, in Asia, homosexuality is sometimes considered selfish ('rocking the boat', so to speak), so people will disapprove of it.

Though it’s interesting to see how pro-gay younger generations are in strongly social cohesion focused Japan and South Korea.

You can’t get 70 percent of American to agree on anything so this is a good thing.

R7, good points. That's the strange thing about developing countries, being on the DL is accepted and is considered totally fine. Just don't announce yourself as gay.

R8, that's true, but I suspect that both these countries have gotten more individualistic over the decades. I certainly noticed a trend of younger people trying to break out from their social constraints whenever I visited Japan.

Canada is a lot more accepting. I'm not surprised.

R3 Many people here think Spain is a third world country, yet acceptance there is at 89 % almost 20 % higher than the US.

The US scores 65-70 on other progressive issues like environment, women, etc. So not surprising.

72% for America is embarrassing, it is the lowest out of all the western nations polled.

Canadians Boomers are pro-gay in a way that American ones aren’t.

Exactly, R15. More American winning I suppose.

R15 - but the US has the highest among the countries with the largest populations.

You can't compare a country as big as US with over 300 million people to Sweden with its 10 million.

The size and vast numbers create a lot of room for dissenting opinions. And no, Canada and Australia aren't comparable - they too have tiny populations.

You can't expect a country the size and pop of US to have 90+ percent. That's unrealistic. It's doing pretty fucking good with 70+ %.

R10

They’re developing nations. The US was like that all around several years ago too, and still is in many places in the US.

Spin, spin, spin, R18.

I don't find that argument compelling r18.

Percentages are not biased by population size, it is based on the percent of your population.

Russia at 14%! Fuck those filthy Russian pigs

Americans blame everything bad about their country on its large population size.

Can't have universal healthcare? It's the population that is too big. Now they can't be too pro-gay, either, because there are too many of them.

They have a jingoistic tendency to blame their shortcomings on being too big, too powerful, too exceptional compared to other countries.

Russia's numbers are pathetic. I don't know why any sane gay person could ever travel to that shithole.

[quote] but the US has the highest among the countries with the largest populations.

I don't think it's a product of the US having a large population. Rather, it's a product of having regions like the south and the heartland/plains states. I don't think the other western countries have an equivalence to that. Yes, they all have rural and more conservative areas, but they just don't have the same dominance that the south/plains states do.

Israel’s is pretty bad too. And certain gays on here just love to defend Israel.

[quote] Many people here think Spain is a third world country

Anyone that thinks Spain is a third-world country has never actually been to a third-world country.

It would be interesting to determine the correlation between religiosity and the acceptance of homosexuality. I suspect that it has something to do with the US low percentage compared to the rest of the Western world.

R18 thinks that people in countries such as Canada, Australia, and Sweden are a monolith and R25 knows nothing about other countries.

No, R18 and R25, not every Canadian lives in Toronto or another major city. 19% of Canadians live in rural areas, compared to 19.3% of Americans. People living in rural Saskatchewan are as different from people in downtown Montreal or Toronto as people from rural Arkansas are from those in NYC.

R28, yes. I've said it elsewhere but America was actually more socially progressive than other western countries until the second great awakening happened. It happened two hundred years ago but it has fucked up our country even now.

All the men in Spain sound like Donald Duck R27

[quote] 19% of Canadians live in rural areas, compared to 19.3% of Americans. People living in rural Saskatchewan are as different from people in downtown Montreal or Toronto as people from rural Arkansas are from those in NYC.

The south and plains aren't completely rural--that in itself is not the issue . They are just entire regions with just drastically different views. It's hard to explain. Even in the cities, there is this air of conservatism.

Inconveniently for Log Cabinettes, two of the European countries with the highest proportion of Muslim immigrants - Sweden and the Netherlands - also have the highest gay acceptance rates on the continent.

And Hungary - which allows virtually no non-European immigration, Muslim or otherwise - is at a dismal 49% (and falling fast).

Very little data from Africa because the poll takers who asked the question were all killed.

Ukraine is at only 14. Same as Russia.

I'm not surprised that the Czech Republic is the only former Iron Curtain country with a decidely higher rate of acceptance for gay people in that region.

R32, it's no different in Canada and you're showing your ignorance. by thinking that other countries don't have regional differences aside from the usual rural/urban divide.

Cities in Alberta and Saskatchewan are far more conservative than cities in other provinces because that part of the Prairies is generally far more conservative than other places in Canada as a whole.

The difference is that even most rural Canadians, even those in conservative areas don't care if someone is gay. Canada's had marriage equity since 2005, so now, most people, aside from the extreme hard core right wingers don't care anymore.

Again...it's not just the rural/urban divide. The difference is that Canada's closest equivalent of the American/Southern plains mentality--Alberta--is a much smaller proportion of the population than the American South/plains states are. New England has a large rural population but even the rural population is very liberal.

R39, the difference is that Canada has always been far more socially progressive than the US on any given matter, including gay rights. Workers rights, unions, pensions, benefits, sick leave, disability issues, public education, affordable post secondary education, maternity leave, social safety nets, and health care are all examples of where countries like Canada are far ahead of the US. I've lived in Alberta, and though it's very conservative, it's not as conservative on most social issues as Americans can be.

You guys need to stop making excuses for the state your country is in and do something about it. Despite what you've been told since birth, you're not all that exceptional. 72% is an abysmal number for a country which considers itself to be the leader of the free world etc, etc., etc...

[quote] You guys need to stop making excuses for the state your country is in and do something about it.

We are. Thanks for your concern though.

[quote]Despite what you've been told since birth, you're not all that exceptional.

Oh wow, that hurts, thanks Canada!

Why is Russia so much worse than the rest of Europe?

R42, because Russia has always been so much worse than the rest of Europe. Always. It's a serfdom country.

Is Canada really less individualist than the UK?

Over in eastern Asia, the Philippines is at 73%, just one point above the US, which is good considering that it is a Roman Catholic-majority, developing world country, and a very pious one at that. Japan at 68%, okay, but not good for a developed, industrialized country. Neither is 44% for South Korea. India at 37% is not surprising. And worse is Muslim majority Indonesia at a dismal 9%.

Enjoy your shithole, R41.

[quote] Enjoy your shithole

Enjoy being a defensive and thin-skinned Canadian.

[quote]Over in eastern Asia, the Philippines is at 73%, just one point above the US, which is good considering that it is a Roman Catholic-majority, developing world country, and a very pious one at that. Japan at 68%, okay, but not good for a developed, industrialized country.

Japan is surprisingly low, considering the huge volume of gay porn they produce. And the literally thousands of guys who seem to be willing to appear in it.

R20 - well, compare against China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia and Mexico. That's the top 10.

We're leading the way. So what if we have 15-20% of the population who are small-minded and provincial.

How on earth do you figure the US is leading the way, R49? It's not 15-20% of people that are small minded, it's 28% - a huge difference. Why are you content to compare the US to third world and developing nations instead of first world countries in the west? Being better than Pakistan, Nigeria, or Russia in acceptance of gays is hardly an accomplishment.

Canada has such a tiny population -- fewer people than California. Comparing Canada vs. California is more of an apt comparison, considering the discrepancy in population of the US and Canada.

57% of Canada live in the Quebec to Windsor corridor. Only about 15% of Americans live in the Northeastern Megalopolis. I'm sure if the Northeast Megalopolis constituted 60% of the population, the approval percentage would be much higher.

Also, one-third of Canada lives in Ontario. It would be like if one-third of Americans lived in California or New York.

R30 what is "the second great awakening happened.

Also can we stop talking about Canada. Bo-ring.

R54, the Second Great Awakening is something that happened in the early 19th century. Prior to that, Americans were becoming less and less religious. It was a reaction to what was perceived as secularism going too far, the perceived failures of the Englightenment, the extremism of the French Revolution, etc. Hardcore evangelical Christianity became widespread in America and people became far more religious. As the people became more religious, so did the laws. Did you know New York State was the first one to institute harsh regulations on abortion? Prior to that, American abortion laws followed the tradiition of English law--any abortion prior to the "quickening" was considered perfectly fine. Apparently by the middle of the 19th century, 20% of pregnancies were being aborted. And it caused even pretty secular people to freak out

Thank you r55

R48 hahahahaha we don’t care. The obaasans can clutch and clack away!

R13 Barca alone is teeming with gay men. And that’s just the football club.

Notably absent in the comparative list are muslim-majority countries (there are 57 of them). I wonder why?

R59, go look at R35 - there's your answer