13 Countries That Are More Gay Friendly Than America

But America still lags behind several other countries when it comes to equality for gays and lesbians.

With nearly half of Americans supporting gay marriage, gay rights advocates are hoping the U.S. will follow the lead of western European governments in establishing stronger federal legal protections for gay couples.

So far, 11 countries have legalized same-sex marriage, according to the Pew Research Center, and seven of them are in western Europe or Scandinavia. Just one country each in Latin America and Africa allows gay couples to marry.

This list includes all the countries that have legalized gay marriage and a couple that have strong anti-discrimination laws and protections for same-sex relationships.