In a global survey conducted in 2023, ***** percent of respondents declared to be homosexual, gay, or lesbian. In Brazil and the Netherlands, for instance, **** percent, instead, identified as bisexual, representing the largest group of bisexual respondents among the 30 surveyed countries. Moreover, *** percent of the interviewees in Switzerland said to be pansexual or omnisexual. Pansexuality describes people who feel attracted to other people regardless of their biological sex, gender, or gender identity, whereas omnisexuality refers to people attracted to people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.

In 2023, Brazil was the country with the largest share of LGBT+ population at 15 percent. Spain and Switzerland followed next, with 14 and 13 percent of their population identifying as LGBT+, respectively.

In a global survey conducted in 2023, ***** percent of respondents from 30 countries declared that they were homosexual, gay, or lesbian, with **** percent who identified as bisexual. *** percent of the interviewees said that they were pansexual or omnisexual. Pansexuality describes people who feel attracted to other people regardless of their biological sex, gender, or gender identity, whereas omnisexuality refers to people attracted to people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Finally, *** percent of respondents were asexual, which means they experience little to no sexual attraction to anyone, regardless of their gender. LGBT people around the world LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. Introduced in the 1990s, LGBT generally includes anyone who is not heterosexual or cisgender. Heterosexual refers to a person attracted to people of the opposite gender, whereas cisgender describes a person whose gender identity is the same as their sex at birth. Acceptance of other gender identities and sexual orientations is usually higher in Western countries. In a study conducted among 34 countries, acceptance of homosexuality was higher in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain. Homosexuality in African countries Worldwide, 71 countries criminalize homosexuality as of 2021, most of which are located in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In Africa, 32 out of 54 countries criminalize homosexuality. In four countries, the legislation imposed the death penalty for sexual relations between people of the same sex. In fact, in most African countries, homosexuality has low levels of acceptance, or is not accepted at all. In a recent survey, most respondents in Africa showed high levels of intolerance towards LGBT+ in their vicinity.

According to a 2019 survey, 54 percent of respondents from South Africa believed homosexuality should be accepted by society. Recognition of homosexuality in the world was highest in Western European countries, Canada and Australia. Despite Kenya ranking comparatively low in the global comparison, acceptance of people identifying as LGBTQ+ notably increased since 2002. Among the four African countries taken into consideration, the lowest degree of acceptance among interviewees was recorded in Nigeria, at seven percent.

Worldwide, 64 countries criminalize homosexuality as of 2024. Most of them are located in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In 12 countries, the death penalty is imposed or at least a possibility for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity. These countries are Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Uganda.

In 2021, around ** percent of individuals living in the District of Columbia identified as LGBT. Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon also had high rates, exceeding *** percent. Mississippi and North Dakota had the lowest rates of LGBT populations, the only states with less than **** percent.

Acceptance of homosexuality has notably increased in many countries across the globe. In South Africa and India, acceptance of homosexuality increased by ** percentage points between 2013 and 2019. Despite being still low, some countries in the world recorded significant increases over the last years. Acceptance tended to be highest among Western European countries.

The small island nation of ***** was ranked as the country in Europe which has the most LGBTQ-friendly laws and policies in 2025 by Rainbow Europe. The country has made great progress in recent years in passing laws which protect the rights of its LGBTQ citizens and residents, such as outlawing so-called "conversion therapy", banning genital mutilation for intersex people, promoting anti-discrimination practices in the workplace, allowing transgender people to more easily change their gender legally. It has also legalized same-sex marriage. EU states lead the way on LGBTQ rights Other leading countries in Europe for LGBTQ rights include Belgium, Denmark, and Spain, with the countries which performed well being concentrated in southern, western, and northern Europe. Many of the top performing countries are members of the European Union, which has specific provisions about protecting minority rights as a prelude to membership, however, it is notable that several member states in central-eastern and south-eastern Europe perform particularly poorly, notably Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. The poor state of LGBTQ rights in eastern Europe Unfortunately, there are still some countries in Europe where LGBTQ rights are not respected or legally enshrined at all, mostly concentrated among non-EU members in eastern Europe. Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Russia, and Belarus make up the five worst performing states, with the homophobic stances of their governments intensifying in recent years.

Five countries achieved 13 points in the 2025 Gay Travel Index: one of them is on the American continent and the other four are in Europe. With 12 points, New Zealand and Germany followed in the ranking. LGBTQ rights in Canada Back in 2005, Canada was the fourth country worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage. The North American nation is in the vanguard of LGBTQ rights and has passed multiple laws assuring equality for this group, such as allowing adoption by same-sex couples, protecting transgender rights, and banning conversion therapy. Meanwhile, its land neighbor, the United States, had the share of the population that identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender increased steadily between 2012 and 2021. Acceptance around the globe According to a survey conducted in 2021 in 27 countries, opinions on the rights of same-sex couples varied greatly around the world. Western European and American nations were particularly supportive of marriage or, failing that, some form of legal recognition for homosexual couples.

Between 2021 and 2023, support for same-sex marriage declined in ** out of 23 surveyed countries worldwide. The major drops were seen in Canada and Germany, where the share of respondents agreeing with same-sex marriage went down *** percentage points. Still, over ** percent of respondents in those two countries supported it.

The way to legalization

As of 2021, ** countries have legalized same-sex marriages, most of them located in Western Europe. Switzerland was the latest to do so after a referendum, while the second to last was Costa Rica, as the only Central American country. While most countries have legalized same-sex marriage through legislation, in South Africa and Taiwan, this was enacted via courts' mandates. Taiwan and South Africa are the first and so far only countries in their continent to have legalized same-sex marriage.

Hostility and criminalization

The support and legalization of same-sex marriages is growing, and the acceptance of homosexuality is slowly but steadily increasing in more hostile countries. In Nigeria, for instance, homosexuality is a crime punishable with the death penalty. Despite a small increase, only ***** percent of people believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East are still the most dangerous world regions for homosexuals. In fact, ** countries still criminalize homosexuality, and most of them are located in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

People who see religion as very important usually have a lower acceptance of homosexuality. According to a survey conducted in 2019, in South Korea, Lebanon, and Lithuania, respondents who perceived religion as very relevant had a very low acceptance of homosexuality, below ** percent. Among the countries with the largest discrepancies between people seeing religion as very important and those seeing it as not very important, Israel recorded the highest difference in percentage points.

According to a survey published in 2021, Senegal is the most intolerant country in Africa toward people of different sexual identity or orientation. A total of ** percent of respondents from Senegal stated they would dislike having homosexual people as neighbors. Other countries in which over ** percent of the respondents declared the same were Liberia, Malawi, Ghana, Mali, Guinea, Uganda, and Burkina Faso.

As of 2024, same-sex marriage in Latin America is still considered illegal or not recognized in the majority of countries. Nonetheless, since 2010, many countries have legalized these types of unions. Among those, Brazil ranked at the top of the list with over 11,100 same-sex marriages in 2023, followed by Mexico and Chile with 6,606 and 2,254 marriages, respectively. LGBTQ+ in Brazil Brazil is not only the leader of the ranking with the most same-sex marriages in Latin America; it was also one of the first countries to make it legal. Since May 2013, the number of same-sex marriages has only increased, almost duplicating from 2015 to 2022. And the forecast is positive for the next generations; as a 2025 survey shows, the Brazilian population from 16 to 44 years of age has an overwhelmingly positive perception of same-sex marriages. A difficult start for Mexico A recent survey in Mexico shows that around five percent of the total population self-identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Nonetheless, the country has failed to provide equal footing for the community. In early 2010, Mexico City was the first federal entity to legalize same-sex marriages, but it was not until the last day of 2022 that all states allowed this type of union. The support for the LGBTQ+ community keeps growing in the Aztec country, as the engagement in supporting activities is also becoming more widespread.

In 2023, the number of violent deaths of LGBT+ people in Brazil decreased in comparison to the previous year, totaling *** occurrences. That same year, over half of LGBT+ victims were identified as gay.

According to a global survey conducted in 2021, three in 10 respondents had at least once spoken out against someone who was being prejudiced against LGBT+ people. In addition, some 13 percent attended a public event in support of LGBT+ people, e.g. a Pride march.

Uruguay was rated the safest Latin American country for LGBTQ tourists in 2025, scoring 11 points. Following in the ranking was Chile, which rated 10 points. In the Caribbean region, Cuba, Guadeloupe, and Martinique ranked in the top three places as the safest travel destinations for this group of travelers.

In 2023, approximately 91.2 percent of the population of London identified as being Heterosexual or Straight, which was the lowest among regions of the United Kingdom. As of this year, approximately 3.5 percent of Londoners identified as being Gay or Lesbian, 1.7 percent as Bisexual, 0.9 percent as Other and 2.8 percent who did not know, or refused to answer.

Over the 2015-2018 period, nearly ******* people aged over ** defined themselves as something other than heterosexual in Canada: ******* identified as lesbian or gay, while ******* identified as bisexual. The provinces with the largest number of non-heterosexuals people were Ontario and Quebec, which are also the most populous provinces in the country. In addition, with the exception of Quebec, bisexual people outnumbered lesbian or gay people in all provinces.

South Africa is the most LGBT+ friendly country in Africa. It is the only country in Africa where same-sex marriage and partnership are legal and couples can joint adopt children. In the span of some years, acceptance of homosexuality in South Africa increased considerably. As of 2019, 54 percent of respondents from South Africa believed that homosexuality should be accepted by the society.

As of 2020, homosexual relations were criminalized in 32 countries in Africa. In four countries, the legislation imposed the death penalty for sexual relations between people of the same sex. These countries were Nigeria, Mauritania, Sudan, and Somalia. Worldwide, 71 countries criminalize homosexuality as of 2021. Most of them are located in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In 11 countries, the death penalty is imposed or at least a possibility for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity.