LGBT Rights Across the World
Which are the Best and Worst Countries?

Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) folk is rife across the world. Legal restrictions co-exist alongside social stigmatisation and physical violence₂. LGBT tolerance and equal rights have been fought for country-by-country against tightly entrenched cultural and religious opposition. Adult consensual sexual activity is a Human Right and protected by privacy laws₃. Despite this, it is illegal to be homosexual in over 60 countries (as of 2025)₄. The Vexen LGBT Equality Index as part of the Social and Moral Development Index grants points to each country depending on its LGBT stance since the 1970s₅. Europe is by far the least prejudiced region, but in the Middle East and Africa cultural prejudice goes hand-in-hand with state intolerance, all too often including physical violence.

1. Current Trends
2. Comparisons of Regions and Continents
3. Factors Included in the International LGBT Equality Index
4. The Full Table of Results for All Countries
5. Links

1. Current Trends

#argentina #china #christianity #equality #homosexuality #human_rights #intolerance #islam #netherlands #norway #religion #russia #south_africa #spain #tolerance #UK #USA

The Economist (2012) produced a graph (above) for the USA and UK, and stated that "the British Social Attitudes Survey shows that views of homosexuality started out tough and hardened in the mid-1980s - the period of the AIDS panic. Since then they have softened (see chart). The young are more liberal than their parents"₆.

In nearly every country strong opposition to LGBT equality and anti-discrimination laws has come from the Catholic Church, conservative Christianity, or Muslim authorities. The USA's moral development suffers from the powerful influence of conservatism tied to the Religious Right (i.e., fundamentalist evangelical Christianity) and "homosexuality was officially classified as a mental illness in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual until 1973"₇. In the Netherlands "the only opposition in parliament came from the Christian Democratic Party, which at the time was not part of the governing coalition. [...] Muslim and conservative Christian groups continue to oppose the law" (PF 2013). In Spain "Vatican officials, as well as the Catholic Spanish Bishops Conference, strongly criticized the law". In Norway there was "resistance from members of the Christian Democratic Party and the Progress Party" [...] "Lutheran-affiliated Church of Norway, was split over the issue. Following passage of the new law, the church's leaders voted to prohibit its pastors from conducting same-sex weddings". In Argentina "vigorous opposition from the Catholic Church and evangelical Protestant churches".

Obnoxiousness is not the preserve of Christian and Muslim organisations however. In South Africa religious institutions and civil officers can refuse to conduct ceremonies and "the traditional monarch of the Zulu people, who account for about one-fifth of the country's population, maintains that homosexuality is morally wrong". In the UK Christianity is a forgotten power with very little influence over public opinion. However, there are still plenty of bigots around in the UK. The UKIP party (UK Independence Party)'s official online forum has "been used to vent 'racist and homophobic' views by some of the party´s top members, including comparing homosexuality to bestiality and paedophilia", according to Pink News (2013)₈. Support for UKIP comes from the under-privileged, poorly educated and angry central trash culture of the UK, which is the same segment of society that is classically considered the most homophobic and xenophobic and this pattern of aggressiveness against LGBT tolerance probably repeats across the West.

“Psychiatric labels [of homosexuality as a mental illness] were abolished in the UK in 1994, in the Russian Federation in 1999, and by the Chinese Society of Psychiatry in 2001, after gay rights groups as well as dissenting psychiatrists argued that homophobia rather than homosexuality was the problem.”

"Sexuality: A Very Short Introduction" by Veronique Mottier (2008)₇

2. Comparisons of Regions and Continents

#homosexuality

Averaging each country's score by decade and grouping by region, the clear trend is of internal regional consistency, and, a general global ebb-and-flow, with the 2010s-2020s period seeing decline across Europe as too many country's passed specifically anti-LGBT-marriage legislation or, fearing the spread of tolerance elsewhere, amending Constitutions to specifically make it impossible to accept homosexual marriages performed elsewhere. Despite this, several regions that have historically been intensely and murderously prejudiced against queer folk are, somehow, slowly edging towards tolerance.

And a table with the numberical values, showing the best and worst countries according to the 2020s data (so far):

The Pattern of European Progression:

“Kees Waaldijk has found [... :]

The law in most countries seems to be moving on a line starting at (0) total ban on homo-sex, then going through the process of (1) the decriminalisation of sex between adults, followed by (2) the equalisation of ages of consent, (3) the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation, and (4) the introduction of legal partnership. A fifth point on the line might be the legal recognition of homosexual parenthood.₉

The basic logic is one of gradual inclusion, moving through increasingly active measures of nondiscrimination in a wide range of areas of public activity.”

"Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice" by Jack Donnelly (2013)₁₀

3. Factors Included in the International LGBT Equality Index

#russia

A country gets points each year, from 1970 to 2025, according to the following rules, with the most common sources being listed in the footnotes₅. The Vexen LGBT Index focuses on the core rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual folk, and is short on metrics regarding wider trans or generic Q+ matters; this should be rectified later with specific data on wider queer+ tolerance.

• -5 for illegality of LGBT relations/existence, but only -3 if only illegal for one gender (always male, in reality) or -10 for death penalty (but only -8 if it not enforced) but only -4 if illegal due to extramarital sex illegality where SS marriage is not allowed (i.e., pseudo-illegal),
• -3 if legal provisions are actually used to persecute or harass LGBT folk; this can be reduced to -2 if reports say 'sometimes' or to -1 if they say 'rarely' - but if it says 'never enforced', a value of -1 is still used because the existence of the discriminatory law itself sends a negative message to society,
• +1 for equal marriage or instead +0.8 for civil marriage or +0.5 if civil marriage but less equal,
• -1 if same-sex marriages are explicitly banned but only -0.5 if civil partnerships are allowed (because it lessens the impact),
• +0.5 fairness in adoption law,
• +0.5 age of consent equality,
• +0.5 if LGB folk can serve in the military openly,
• in 2017 in particular:
• +0.5 for each positive legal protection found by ILGA in 2017 (i.e. constitutional protection, anti-discrimination in employment, anti-hate-crime, anti-incitement, Conversion Therapy banned, and Other)₁₁,
• -0.5 for each negative flag found by ILGA in 2017 - NGOs banned or arrests within the past 3 years₁₁,
• In 2025 in particular, the scores for that year come solely from EqualDex's excellent and thorough measurements of LGBTQ+ rights in each country - their values go from 100 to 0, and to match the scoring system here, EqualDex results are rescaled to +1.5 to -5 for each country,
• Voting for (positive) or against (negative) each of these at the United Nations:
  • 2003: Brazil's resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. It was supported by many Western and Latin American countries, but strong enough opposition from the Vatican and several members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) that is was postponed to 2004, where the same opponents (also joined by Zimbabwe) stopped it again.
  • In 2006, the Norway Joint Statement on sexual orientation and gender identity was supported by 54 countries but faced opposition from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) bloc and the Vatican.
  • In 2008, the Argentina Declaration at the UN General Assembly affirmed LGBTQ rights, it was supported by 66 states but opposed by a coalition led by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Vatican, amongst others.
  • In 2011 at the Human Rights Council, a Resolution by South Africa requested a report on discrimination and violence against LGBTQ folk. It passed 23-19 with 3 abstentions,
  • In 2014, UNHRC Resolution 27/32 affirmed human rights regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. It passed with 25 votes, 14 against, and 7 abstentions. Support came mainly from Latin America, Western Europe, North America, and parts of Asia, while opposition was concentrated in the OIC bloc, Russia, and African states.
  • 2016 UNHRC Resolution 32/2: Created the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. And the votes for renewal in 2019, 2022 and 2025.

The items that are worth whole points or more can be fractioned if only portions of a country adhere to a law; for example, the UK gained 3/4 of a point while England, Scotland and Wales supported equal adoption rights, until Northern Ireland also removed discriminatory restrictions later.

During a year, positive points are only applied if the positive outcome has been attained for the whole year, except, if a country has a single score for every year in a decade, then, the change is attributed to the same year of the positive change, to reflect the fact that things were changing during that decade, and avoid the impression of ten years with no change. This is especially important because all scores are aggregated by decade.

4. The Full Table of Results for All Countries

#homosexuality