Acceptance of gays varies by nation, survey says

The world is divided over the acceptance of homosexuality, a survey released Tuesday finds.

There is wide acceptance of homosexuality in North America, the European Union, and much of Latin America, according to the Pew Research Center survey.

"I can't think of any question we have asked where we have this sort of global polarization," says Juliana Horowitz, the report's lead author and a senior researcher at Pew. "In North America, Europe and several countries in Latin America, we have really high acceptance of homosexuality. In predominantly Muslim nations and in sub-Saharan Africa, we have equally widespread views on the other side."

African nations and predominantly Muslim countries are among the least accepting of homosexuality. For example, about 98 percent of people in Nigeria say homosexuality should not be accepted. In Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country in Southeast Asia, 93 percent say homosexuality should be rejected.

About 60 percent of Americans say society should accept homosexuality. They are more tolerant today than in 2007, when 49 percent said homosexuality should be accepted.

In several countries, younger respondents expressed more tolerant views than older people. For example, in Japan, 83 percent of those younger than 30 say homosexuality should be accepted, compared with 71 percent of those ages 30-49, and 39 percent of those 50 and older.

The survey was conducted by telephone and face to face in 39 countries among 37,653 respondents from March 2 to May 1. The margin of error for the survey ranges from plus or minus 3.1 to plus or minus 7.7 percentage points.