The latest Spartacus Gay Travel Index, more comprehensive due to additional categories, gives an overview of the situation of LGBT in a total 202 countries and regions.

Sweden, Canada and Malta ranking highest while Germany has improved its overall ranking by one point and now ranks 10th in the index together with last year’s winner Portugal and also Denmark, New Zealand and Iceland.

Among the most dangerous countries for LGBT travellers in 2020 are again countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia and the Russian republic of Chechnya, where homosexuals are massively persecuted and threatened with death.

USA: a divided country

The legal situation for queer people varies widely within the 50 federal US states. We were able to adapt the categories specific to the whole country and thus guarantee a more precise look in the U A-index. The winner is California: This state has an exuberant queer infrastructure and excellent LGBT laws. We have out of 13 possible points for this. Ohio is at the bottom due to its very retrograde legislation.

Apart from Tennessee, Ohio is the only state in which transgender people are not allowed to have their birth certificates modified, even after relevant operations have been carried out.

ABOUT THE INDEX

The index attempts at finding a balance between measuring the rights of the local LGBTIQ community and considering the demands of queer holidaymakers. Our aim is to monitor the safety of queer people in each country and also increase the awareness on grievances.

We are convinced that there are holidaymakers who choose countries   where the queer community is an accepted and beloved part of society. But there are also holidaymakers who consciously want to travel to a country in order to enter into a dialogue with the oppressed local queer community.

The index is intended to provide either type of holidaymaker with trustworthy and valid information.