Most Countries That Have Legalized Same-Sex Marriage Have Seen Shifts in Opinion After the Change in the Law
Is the city or area where you live a good place or not a good place for gay or lesbian people?
% Good place (three-year averages)
Range plot showing changes in the percentage saying their city or area is a good place for gay and lesbian people to live before versus after same-sex-marriage legalization (which happened in the list of 26 countries from 2009 to 2022). Significant increases range from 4 points in France (66% to 70%), Ecuador (44% to 48%), and Denmark (71% to 75%) to 17 points in Argentina (48% to 65%) and 16 points in Norway (60% to 76%), while countries with nonsignificant changes (including Mexico, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Germany) show little movement of three points or less in either direction after legalization.
Data are aggregated in three-year averages in the years before and after the law changed. For example, in Argentina, where the law changed in 2010, pre-legalization takes an average of opinion from 2007-2009, and post-legalization takes an average from 2011-2013.
