Conversely the analysis showed that the least accepting countries have become less accepting over time | New Global Acceptance Index ranks 141 countries on LGBT acceptance and legal protections and provides a link between inclusion and GDP per capita.
LOS ANGELES – New research from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds average levels of acceptance for LGBT people and rights have increased globally since 1980, though acceptance has become more polarized, increasing in the most accepting countries and decreasing in the least.
In a series of new studies, researchers developed and utilized a groundbreaking new measure of LGBT inclusion, called the Global Acceptance Index, which ranked 141 countries on their relative level of social acceptance of LGBT people and rights. LGBT acceptance refers to social beliefs about LGBT people as well as the prevailing opinion about laws and policies that protect LGBT people from violence and discrimination and promote their equality and well-being.
“Very few surveys conducted about LGBT people and issues provide sufficient data for global, cross-national comparisons of public opinion about LGBT people and rights,” said lead author Andrew R. Flores, Visiting Scholar at the Williams Institute. “The Global Acceptance Index provides a consistent and comparable way to measure attitudes and attitude change, which could better understand inclusion of LGBT people in many areas of social, economic, and political life.”
In Polarized Progress: Social Acceptance of LGBT People in 141 Countries, researchers analyzed findings from 11 cross-national, global and regional surveys and found that 80 countries (57%) experienced increases in acceptance. Forty-six countries (33%) experienced a decline in acceptance and 15 countries (11%) were unchanged. The analysis showed that the most accepting countries were Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Andorra; they were also the countries with the greatest increase in LGBT acceptance since 1980. Conversely, the analysis showed that the least accepting countries have become less accepting over time.
