Where are the best and worst places to be gay in Europe?

Since 2009, ILGA-Europe (The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Inter-sex Association) Rainbow Index have released a Rainbow Map which measures the best and worst countries in Europe to live in. The results are measured by the legal and policy situation in each country and is ranked by a score from 0 to 100.

Just yesterday (May 10), the 2016 Rainbow Map was released, with some interesting new results.

The Guardian reports that out of 49 countries Azerbaijan is the worst with a 5% score. Russia, Armenia and Turkey follow up as another three worst countries to live in.

Homosexuality is legal in Azerbaijan, but the reports finds that it fails to protect its LGBT community from homophobia attacks and even comments by political figures.

The top three best countries to live in are Malta, Belgium and the UK who all scored above 80%. The UK, however, has fallen two places from last years ranking, where it was ranked first.

Writing for Stonewall International’s blog, policy officer Kit Dorey said that the UK’s fall to third place is an important reminder that “we cannot afford to be complacent in our aim of achieving acceptance without exception.”

He continues, stating that the reason the UK has fallen in place is because of the country’s “inadequate laws and policies relating to trans equality.”

Dorey also explains that the reason the UK fell was because two new criteria were introduced in this years ranking. One of the criteria is on the age restriction for legal gender recognition which the UK has set at 18 but a lot of trans people think that is “too late.”

According to the Equality Network, Scotland would have been top of the chart if they had been counted as a separate country from the UK.

You can see the full ranking on ILGA-Europe Rainbow Index’s website.

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