Best countries to live in for lgbtq+ 2024
10 Most LGBTQ Friendly Countries: 2025 Guide
What are the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in 2025?
2025, the most LGBTQ-friendly countries include Malta, Iceland, Canada, Spain, and New Zealand. These nations consistently rank at the top for LGBTQ rights, protections, and social acceptance.
Other highly inclusive destinations are the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Australia.
Which country is the gay capital of the planet in 2025?
2025, Amsterdam in the Netherlands is often called the gay capital of the planet, known for its vibrant LGBTQ society, historic activism, and iconic Pride celebrations.
Which countries have banned conversion therapy?
2025, 25 countries have enacted nation-wide bans on so-called “conversion therapy” while others contain done so more on a mention or provincial level.
Where can transgender people legally change their gender?
Transgender individuals can legally change their gender in many LGBTQ-friendly countries, often through self-determination processes without invasive requirements. Notable examples comprise Malta, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Argentina, Canada, and Fresh Zealand, which permit legal gender recognition
Rainbow Map
2025 rainbow map
These are the main findings for the 2025 edition of the rainbow map
The Rainbow Map ranks 49 European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI people, from 0-100%.
The UK has dropped six places in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map, as Hungary and Georgia also register steep falls following anti-LGBTI legislation. The data highlights how rollbacks on LGBTI human rights are part of a broader erosion of democratic protections across Europe. Read more in our press release.
“Moves in the UK, Hungary, Georgia and beyond signal not just isolated regressions, but a coordinated global backlash aimed at erasing LGBTI rights, cynically framed as the defence of tradition or public stability, but in reality designed to entrench discrimination and suppress dissent.”
- Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director, ILGA-Europe
Malta has sat on top of the ranking for the last 10 years.
With 85 points, Belgium jumped to second place after adopting policies tackling hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
Iceland now comes third place on the ranking with a score of 84.
The three Europe has prolonged been seen as relatively progressive when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, and thankfully it’s becoming even safer and more welcoming. But not all countries are equal – especially when it comes to policies and general level of acceptance – and some countries do a lot better than most. That’s why we’re unveiling the 20 most Gay friendly countries in Europe in 2024. Each region has been carefully selected for its vibrant Homosexual scene, progressive laws, and inclusive atmosphere. We’ve created our own points system using respected benchmarking tools, including the IGLA Rainbow Europe and Equaldex, and combined this with other factors, such as the number of queer-friendly bars, festivals and events, and legislation. So, without further ado, here are 20 countries in Europe where love knows no bounds. Points: 26/50 Estonia is the most LGBT-friendly country in the Baltic and has risen in the ranks to change into one of Europe’s superior 20 LGBT-friendly countries in the past five years. It was the first Baltic country to announce marriage equality, making it possible for sam Of the 65 countries I’ve visited so far, Mexico is my favorite place to be gender non-conforming. I’ve never spent second in a place where queer culture felt so ingrained in my everyday life (maybe with the exception of my place country of the UK) and in my personal experience, it seemed to be one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world. I felt appreciate I could be my proudest, most bold gay self while in Mexico, and that's why I’m pretty certain I’ll close up back there one day. From a legal perspective, there are strong anti-discrimination laws in place to protect queer residents from hate crimes, and trans rights are also cute progressive. Non-binary gender individuality is recognized (gender reassignment surgery isn't required to legally change gender), gender-affirming care is legal, and the government chose to ban conversion therapy help in 2023. I’ve spent a couple of years living on and off in Mexico and have based myself in a rare different cities, so I’m sharing my top three spots: Mexico City (CDMX) is residence to one of the biggest Pride parades on the planet — an estimated one million people attend, and it’s an Equaldex's Equality Index is a rating from 0 to 100 (with 100 being the most equal) to facilitate visualize the legal rights and widespread attitudes towards Diverse (lesbian, gay, multi-attracted , transgender, queer, questioning, intersex...) people in each region. The Equality Index is an average of two indexes: the legal index and the public perspective Index. Equality Index The LGBT legal index measures the current legal status of 13 unlike issues ranging from the legal status of homosexuality, homosexual marriage, transgender rights, LGBT discrimination protections, LGBT censorship laws, and more. Each topic is weighted differently (for example, if same-sex marriage is illegal in a region, it would have a much bigger impact on the score than not allowing LGBT people to serve in the military). Each topic is assigned a "total possible score" and a "score" is assigned based the status of the law using a rating scale that ranges from 0% to 100% (for example, if homosexuality is legal, it would would receive a score of 100, but if it's illegal, it would receve a score of 0.)
From Switzerland to Spain, here are Europe’s most Queer friendly countries.
20. Estonia
1. Mexico
Mexico City for the Huge Gay Pride Parade
LGBT Equality Index
Equality Index Methodology
Average of Legal Index and Public Opinion IndexLegal Index