The Leaders & Laggards of LGBT+ Rights in Europe

Malta has once again been crowned Europe’s leading country for LGBT+ rights. This is according to ILGA-Europe’s latest edition of their annual ranking of European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI people. Malta received a score of 88.8 out of a possible 100 percent this year, based on the analysis of criteria such as equity and non-discrimination, family, hate crimes and expressions, legal gender recognition and asylum. It is the tenth consecutive year that the European branch of the International Lesbian, Gay, Trans and Intersex Association has awarded the Mediterranean island nation with the title.

Malta was followed by Belgium, Iceland and Denmark, all with scores above 80 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia received the worst scores, all below 10 percent. Romania sits at the bottom of the EU ranking with 19 percent points. The United Kingdom dropped six places in the ranking, while Hungary, which has seen the first Pride ban in the EU, and Georgia also saw steep falls.

Marriage equality for same-sex couples is only possible in 22 out of the 49 countries analyzed. Meanwhile, freedom of assembly and association for LGBTI+ communities is restricted or under attack in at least 14 countries, 11 countries still have no legal or administrative procedure for legal gender recognition and conversion practices are only banned in 10 countries.