These are the world's most queer-friendly travel destinations in 2024

DPA
·2 min read
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Most heterosexual travellers don't need to worry if they might be imprisoned for sharing a hotel room with their partner, and the list of potential holiday destinations is significantly shorter for queer people. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Most heterosexual travellers don't need to worry if they might be imprisoned for sharing a hotel room with their partner, and the list of potential holiday destinations is significantly shorter for queer people. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa

When planning a holiday, members of the LGBT+ community are often forced to consider whether they will feel safe at their chosen destination.

The Spartacus International Gay Guide has been working to make that decision a little easier, putting out a ranking every year to update travellers on the LGBT+ situation in more than 200 nations worldwide.

This year, according to the Spartacus Gay Travel Index, the most LGBT+-friendly countries are Malta, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.

2024 marks the first time that the top spot is occupied by five nations simultaneously, Spartacus International Gay Guide, which began publishing the index 2012, said.

Switzerland and Australia are ranked in second place, followed by Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Uruguay who came in third.

The most dangerous countries for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and other members of the community are the Chechen Republic, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is banned.

For its annual travel index, the Spartacus International Gay Guide looks at 213 countries. It also publishes a separate overview for all US states.

In 2024, New York state came in first followed by California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon in second place, while Oklahoma was rated the country's least LGBT+-friendly state.

In the global index, Estonia managed to climb from 47th place last year to number 32 this year, thanks to a new law legalizing same-sex marriage, according to Spartacus.

Norway also managed to improve its ranking, from 17 to 8, after banning conversion therapy, it said.

For the index, Spartacus looks at assessments by the platform Equaldex, the international LGBT+ association ILGA, the Transrespect project and Human Rights Watch, among others.

The country list is then compiled on the basis of 18 categories, including anti-discrimination legislation, transgender rights, HIV travel restrictions, prosecution of members of the LGBT+ community and recorded murders.

Positive aspects such as the right to adoption or marriage are also taken into account.

"There are still many places in the world where LGBT must fear for their happiness and safety," Spartacus said. "Due to the sometimes wide differences in the world, it can happen that holidaymakers endanger themselves simply by unwise behaviour. In order to support the safety of gay tourists worldwide, we publish the Gay Travel Index."

Gay Travel Index 2024 - Top 12 countries
(Several countries tied in 1st, 6th and 8th place)

1 Canada
1 Malta
1 New Zealand
1 Portugal
1 Spain
6 Australia
6 Switzerland
8 Denmark
8 Germany
8 Iceland
8 Norway
8 Uruguay