Where Data Tells the Story
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Forty years ago, public views about homosexuality were extremely negative in many rich countries. As the chart shows, back in 1984, one in three Dutch people believed homosexuality was “never or rarely justified”. In Spain and Great Britain, that view was held by the majority. Perhaps most strikingly, three-quarters of Americans thought the same.
Since then, levels of discrimination have plummeted. Today, the share of people in these countries who think that homosexuality is “never or rarely justified” makes up a shrinking minority. That’s good news — everyone should be free to decide for themselves who they are attracted to.
It might sound odd today to ask whether someone else’s sexuality is justified. But that’s how the long-running World Values Survey phrased it when they began decades ago. Keeping the phrasing consistent helps show how attitudes have changed, but the fact that it may sound outdated now is, in itself, a reflection of how much has changed.