The Most LGBT-Friendly Country in the World Has Been Declared

Impact
By Meredith Bennett-Smith

Where in the world are citizens most tolerant of homosexuality?

According to the results of a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, the world's most LGBT-friendly nation is none other than Spain.

Surprised?

The rankings were part of a 40-country survey on what is or is not considered morally acceptable. Respondents were asked to discuss the morality of issues, including married people having an affair, gambling, homosexuality, having an abortion, having sex before marriage, drinking alcohol, getting a divorce and using contraceptives. 

Of Spaniards interviewed, 55% said homosexuality was morally acceptable, compared with 6% who said it was unacceptable and 38% who answered that it's "not a moral issue."

Image Credit: Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project

It's important to note that the rankings are based on percentage of respondents who classified homosexuality as morally unacceptable. The United States had a surprisingly high number of respondents claim homosexuality was morally unacceptable — 37% — however, another 35% claimed it was "not a moral issue."

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic had the highest overall percentage of respondents claim homosexuality was morally acceptable, edging out Spain with 56%. However, 14% of Czechs surveyed said it was unacceptable.

Countries with the lowest tolerance, according to the survey, included Ghana and Russia, where 98% and 72% of citizens replied that homosexuality was morally unacceptable, respectively.

These results are consistent with Pew research from 2013 that concluded that Spain was the most LGBT-tolerant using a slightly different metric: the percentage of participants who believed homosexuality should be accepted by society.

While Spain is known for being predominantly Catholic, the country of nearly 48 million legalized same-sex marriages starting in 2005. The Spanish city of Madrid is also well known for its massive annual Pride parade, and the city will host the World Gay Pride event in 2017.