Despite facing strong anti-LGBTI sentiments in several nations, Europe continues to make strides in LGBTQ+ equality. While public discussions have become more divisive, particularly concerning transgender individuals, the political commitment to advancing LGBTI rights is demonstrably effective. The most significant advancements noted on the Rainbow Europe Map 2023 are observed in countries adopting legal gender recognition based on self-determination models. Furthermore, the past year has seen progress in nations implementing bans on intersex genital mutilation (IGM), contributing to their improved rankings.
Spain notably climbed six positions to secure the fourth spot, driven by the introduction of legal gender recognition based on self-determination, alongside a ban on IGM. Similarly, Finland entered the top ten, also advancing six places, due to its adoption of self-determination in legal gender recognition. Greece also improved its standing by four places following its ban on IGM.
Legislation encompassing gender identity and sex characteristics within anti-discrimination and hate crime frameworks has propelled Belgium, Iceland, and Moldova upwards in the rankings, alongside Spain. Moldova experienced a significant leap of 14 places due to the positive inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in laws covering employment, education, goods and services provision, health, hate crime, and hate speech.
There was a position swap between Slovenia and Switzerland, both of which legalized same-sex marriage and joint adoption. Switzerland has additionally permitted medically assisted insemination for same-sex couples. Croatia also moved up one position by introducing adoption rights for same-sex couples.
Understanding the Rainbow Europe Map and Index
The Rainbow Europe Map and Index is ILGA-Europe’s annual benchmarking tool, assessing the legal and policy landscape for LGBTI individuals across 49 European countries. This tool, which has been developed since 2009, serves to visually represent the human rights situation of LGBTI people in Europe.
The Rainbow Index ranks these 49 European countries based on their legal and policy frameworks for LGBTI individuals, using a scale from 0-100%. This ranking is derived from an examination of 74 criteria across seven thematic categories:
- Equality and non-discrimination
- Family rights
- Hate crime and hate speech
- Legal gender recognition
- Intersex bodily integrity
- Civil society space
- Asylum
More detailed information about the criteria and their weighting in the overall score can be found at www.rainbow-europe.org/about.
Policymakers, researchers, and journalists can delve deeper into the data underpinning the Rainbow Map and Index through the Rainbow Europe web module at www.rainbow-europe.org. This platform provides access to the original information sources that inform the country rankings.
While the Rainbow Map and Index provides a snapshot of the current policy environment, ILGA-Europe also issues country-specific recommendations to guide future progress. These recommendations, gathered through consultations with LGBTI organizations on the ground, are designed to encourage policymakers to address the most pressing legal and policy needs identified within the Rainbow Map and Index framework.
