Same-Sex Marriage

Despite major changes in laws and norms surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people around the world, public opinion on the acceptance of homosexuality in society remains sharply divided by country, region and economic development.

45% of Americans don’t think it makes a difference that there is growing variety in the types of family arrangements people live in.

Among the changes: Smartphones and social media became the norm, church attendance fell, and same-sex marriage and legalizing marijuana gained support.

Worldwide, most of the countries that allow gay marriage are in Western Europe. In the Americas, five countries have legalized gay marriage.

More than 18 years after the Netherlands became the world’s first country to allow same-sex marriage, Austria became the latest European nation to legalize the practice.

The share of Americans who favor same sex marriage has grown in recent years, though there are still demographic and partisan divides.

A majority of Americans (61%) favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, while about half as many (31%) oppose same-sex marriage. Republicans and Democrats remain deeply divided over legal marriage for gays and lesbians – though support has increased significantly in both parties over the past 15 years.

The church is one of the few major mainline Protestant denominations in the country that currently does not sanction same-sex marriage.

In the EU, Central and Eastern Europeans differ from Western Europeans in their views on certain issues, including religious minorities and gay marriage.

The European continent today is split in public attitudes toward religion, minorities and social issues such as gay marriage and legal abortion.