Across the world public opinion about homosexuality varies substantially. While residents in some nations have embraced gay rights as human rights, people in other countries may find homosexuality unacceptable. Why are there such big differences in attitudes about homosexuality?

Using survey data from almost 90 societies, this book shows that cross-national differences in attitudes can largely be explained by the strength of democratic institutions, their level of economic development, and the religious context that people live in. Alongside quantitative findings for why nations vary so considerably, case studies of various countries, content analysis of newspaper articles, and in-depth interviews are also used to unpack the characteristics working within individual and key sets of nations.

Amy Adamczyk