In 2023, Brazil was the country with the largest share of LGBT+ population at 15 percent. Spain and Switzerland followed next, with 14 and 13 percent of their population identifying as LGBT+, respectively.

In a global survey conducted in 2023, ***** percent of respondents declared to be homosexual, gay, or lesbian. In Brazil and the Netherlands, for instance, **** percent, instead, identified as bisexual, representing the largest group of bisexual respondents among the 30 surveyed countries. Moreover, *** percent of the interviewees in Switzerland said to be pansexual or omnisexual. Pansexuality describes people who feel attracted to other people regardless of their biological sex, gender, or gender identity, whereas omnisexuality refers to people attracted to people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.

According to a global survey conducted in 2021, three in 10 respondents had at least once spoken out against someone who was being prejudiced against LGBT+ people. In addition, some 13 percent attended a public event in support of LGBT+ people, e.g. a Pride march.

Sexual identity estimates by occupation 2014. This is presented at a UK level, and broken down by England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Five countries achieved 13 points in the 2025 Gay Travel Index: one of them is on the American continent and the other four are in Europe. With 12 points, New Zealand and Germany followed in the ranking. LGBTQ rights in Canada Back in 2005, Canada was the fourth country worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage. The North American nation is in the vanguard of LGBTQ rights and has passed multiple laws assuring equality for this group, such as allowing adoption by same-sex couples, protecting transgender rights, and banning conversion therapy. Meanwhile, its land neighbor, the United States, had the share of the population that identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender increased steadily between 2012 and 2021. Acceptance around the globe According to a survey conducted in 2021 in 27 countries, opinions on the rights of same-sex couples varied greatly around the world. Western European and American nations were particularly supportive of marriage or, failing that, some form of legal recognition for homosexual couples.

The most common response in the European Union among LGBTQ survey respondents when asked to rank their life satisfaction on a scale from one to ten, was to give a score of seven in 2019. This varied from countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain, where the most common response was eight out of ten, to North Macedonia, where the most common response was six.

LGBT+ rights are human rights that all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other people outside traditional sexuality and gender categories have. But in practice, these rights are often not protected to the same extent as the rights of straight and cisgender people.

Among others, LGBT+ rights include: physical integrity rights, such as not being executed for their sexuality or gender and not being subjected to conversion therapies; social rights, such as changing their legal gender, being sexually intimate, marrying, and adopting children with people of the same sex; economic rights such as not being discriminated at work; and political rights, such as being able to advocate for themselves and their communities publicly.

The protection of these rights allows LGBT+ people to live the lives they want and to thrive in them.

On this page, you can find data and visualizations on how the protection of LGBT+ rights has changed over time, and how it differs across countries.

Context

Rainbow Europe brings together both the legal index of LGBTI equality based on our Rainbow Europe Map and an overview of the social climate for LGBTI people in each country based on our Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People. Rainbow Europe ranks all 49 European countries on a scale between 0% (gross violations of human rights, discrimination) and 100% (respect of human rights, full equality). -From https://www.rainbow-europe.org/about

Content

This dataset contains all of the laws, policies and other deciding factors that Rainbow Europe uses to calculate their index, and whether they are applied in each country. It also contains the score contributions applied to calculate the index.

Score

Rainbow Europe weighs the conditions to get a 0-100% scale. The weights and criteria are on their "about page" linked above. The score percent field contains the weightings if the condition is applied, and 0 if it's not.

Update Frequency

I aim to update the dataset roughly at the end of each year and keep the previous versions to document the progress of LGBTQ+ rights in Europe.

Quick Reminder

Upvote if you like this dataset or find it useful!

The Russian Federation was ranked last European country in Rainbow Europe's annual LGBTI rights rankings for 2025, with an overall score of * percent. Russia does not perform well on any indicator, with family rights being the only category in which the country was awarded a positive score. The government of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin has become infamous in recent years for their homophobic stances, such as with laws brought in that target "LGBTQ propaganda", meaning that it is a crime to educate young people about homosexuality. These laws have led to a clamp-down on LGBTQ civil society in Russia, along with gay and queer activists in the country.

The small island nation of ***** was ranked as the country in Europe which has the most LGBTQ-friendly laws and policies in 2025 by Rainbow Europe. The country has made great progress in recent years in passing laws which protect the rights of its LGBTQ citizens and residents, such as outlawing so-called "conversion therapy", banning genital mutilation for intersex people, promoting anti-discrimination practices in the workplace, allowing transgender people to more easily change their gender legally. It has also legalized same-sex marriage. EU states lead the way on LGBTQ rights Other leading countries in Europe for LGBTQ rights include Belgium, Denmark, and Spain, with the countries which performed well being concentrated in southern, western, and northern Europe. Many of the top performing countries are members of the European Union, which has specific provisions about protecting minority rights as a prelude to membership, however, it is notable that several member states in central-eastern and south-eastern Europe perform particularly poorly, notably Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. The poor state of LGBTQ rights in eastern Europe Unfortunately, there are still some countries in Europe where LGBTQ rights are not respected or legally enshrined at all, mostly concentrated among non-EU members in eastern Europe. Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Russia, and Belarus make up the five worst performing states, with the homophobic stances of their governments intensifying in recent years.

According to survey conducted in eight countries, Spain is the country where people are more likely to identify themselves part of the LGBTQ+ community. It is also the country in which respondents stated more often to have a close friend or relative who is part of the LGBTQ+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary, among others). Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Denmark, on the other hand, record the highest share of respondents who were neither part of the LGBTQ community nor knew anyone who is part of it.

The cities in Europe where survey respondents most commonly indicated that they were a good place to live for gay and lesbian people were Rekjavik,Valletta and Groningen in 2023. In general, the cities which ranked as the best place to live for lesbian and gay people in Europe were in Nordic countries (Norway, Iceland, Copenhagen, Sweden, Finland), western European countries (Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands), and southern European countries (Italy, Malta, Spain). The five cities with the fewest respondents indicating that they were a good place to live were all in south-eastern Europe, with the bottom two both coming from Turkey (Diyarbakir) and Albania (Tirania). Turkey tends to rank so lowly due to the influence of traditionalist and religious social norms, which do not recognize LGBTQ relationships as being on a par as heterosexual relationships and lead to more commonly held homophobic views.

Numerous studies from Europe and North America have documented sexual orientation-based health disparities, but due to data limitations, very little is known about the health of sexual minorities (i.e., lesbians, gay men, bisexual individuals, and other non-heterosexual populations) in developing countries. This research note uses newly available nationally representative data from the Chilean Socio-Economic Characterization Survey (CASEN) to explore sexual orientation-based disparities in self-rated health, health insurance coverage, and healthcare utilization in Chile. Our findings indicate that sexual minority respondents report worse self-rated health and greater health care utilization, and that sexual minority men are more likely to have private health insurance relative to heterosexual men. These findings are important in facilitating continued efforts to reduce health disparities in Latin America.

Country-wise LGBT+ rights and legality worldwide including:

• Same-sex sexual activity
• Recognition of same-sex unions
• Same-sex marriage
• Adoption by same-sex couples
• LGB people allowed to serve openly in military
• Anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation
• Laws concerning gender identity/expression

Columns have been encoded into Yes, No, Unknown regarding the legality or existence of legislation for each subject area.

Context

FRA (Fundamental Rights Agency) conducted an online survey to identify how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in the European Union and Croatia experience the fulfilment of their fundamental rights. The evidence produced by the survey will support the development of more effective laws and policies to fight discrimination, violence and harassment, improving equal treatment across society. The need for such an EU-wide survey became evident after the publication in 2009 of the first FRA report on homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, which highlighted the absence of comparable data. The European Commission then requested FRA to collect comparable data across the EU on this issue. FRA organised the data collection in the form of an online survey covering all EU Member States and Croatia. The respondents were persons aged 18 years and over, who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, anonymously. The survey was made available online, from April to July 2012, in all 23 official EU languages (except Irish) plus Catalan, Croatian, Luxembourgish, Russian and Turkish. In total, 93,079 LGBT persons completed the survey. FRA’s inhouse experts designed the survey which was implemented by Gallup, one of the market leaders in large-scale surveys. In addition, civil society organisations including ILGA-Europe (European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) and Transgender Europe (TGEU) provided advice on how to best approach LGBT people.

More about methodology of the survey can be found in EU LGBT survey Technical report. Methodology, online survey, questionnaire and sample.

Content

Data set consist of 5 .csv files that represent 5 blocks of questions: Daily Life, Discrimination, Violence and Harassment, Rights Awareness, Transgender Specific Questions.

The schema of all the tables is identical:

• CountryCode - name of the country
• subset - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual women, Bisexual men or Transgender (for Transgender Specific Questions table the value is only Transgender)
• question_code - unique code ID for the question
• question_label - full question text
• answer - answer given
• percentage
• notes - [0]: small sample size; [1]: NA due to small sample size; [2]: missing value

Acknowledgements

Main results performed by FRA

Inspiration

Various of questions can be asked: do LGBT people feel safe in countries they live in? Do LGBT people where to go if someone discriminate their rights? Is there work/in-house harassment in against LGBT people?

Banner photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Pexels

BackgroundThe global population of individuals with gender diversity or LGBTQ+ people is on the rise. However, negative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ individuals persist, even among healthcare professionals, creating barriers to healthcare access. These attitudes are influenced by cultural variations worldwide and necessitate investigation across diverse cultures and settings.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people and describe associated factors with being LGBTQ+ among Thai medical students.MethodsDuring the 2021 academic year, a survey was conducted at a medical school in Bangkok, Thailand, collecting demographic data and attitudes measured by a standardised Thai questionnaire. Descriptive statistics as well as bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to describe characteristics and association.ResultsA total of 806 medical students participated, with a neutral attitude being the most prevalent (72.2%), followed by a positive attitude (27.2%), and a minority reporting a negative attitude (0.6%). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed significant associations between positive attitudes and female sexual identity (aOR 2.02, 95%CI 1.45–2.81, p-value < 0.001), having LGBTQ+ family members (aOR 3.57, 95%CI 1.23–10.34, p-value = 0.019), having LGBTQ+ friend (aOR 1.46, 95%CI 1.02–2.11, p-value = 0.040), and coming from areas outside of Bangkok (aOR 1.41, 95%CI 1.01–1.97, p-value = 0.043).ConclusionPositive attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community are essential for physicians, emphasising the need to study factors that contribute to positive attitudes in order to foster an LGBTQ+-friendly environment for both patients and medical students.

The EU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Survey (EU LGBT) was conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). It is the first ever EU-wide online survey to establish an overview concerning the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (18 years or older) and their experiences with regard to fundamental rights in the 28 EU Member States. Up until now, there has been very little comparable data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect to discrimination, and lot of the available information is limited to occasional news reports and court judgements. As the first EU-wide survey of its kind, the results support the development of equal treatment policies for LGBT people in the European Union and set the agenda for years to come. Based on the survey results, national and European policy makers, as well as non-governmental organisations, are able to better target their advocacy strategies and activities to support LGBT communities to live and express themselves freely in a non-discriminatory environment. The survey was completely anonymous (no additional data on the participants and their sessions were logged in any way). The survey data collection operated by Gallup Europe, a professional survey and consultancy firm. In order to ensure that the survey delivers evidence needed for policy making, the EU LGBT Survey counted on the participation of a large and diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people from each country. Hence, it was vitally important for the success of the survey that FRA and Gallup worked together with civil society organisations to reach a wide audience and raise awareness concerning the survey, including participants emailing the survey, sharing it through social media or simply inviting LGBT friends to take part. More information (including, downloading the data and documentation) can be found on the FRA website. The survey data can also be explored online using the FRA's Data Explorer.

Worldwide, **** in 10 respondents support LGBT people being open about their sexual orientation or gender identity with everyone. In a global survey conducted in 2024, ** percent of respondents stated this. In addition, ** percent of interviewees supported openly lesbian, gay and bisexual athletes to be part of sports teams.

IntroductionThe World Health Organization (WHO) recently updated its guidelines for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). These guidelines recommend community delivery and task-sharing for PEP administration and suggest enhanced adherence counseling for those who initiate PEP. This work provides insights into considerations for optimizing people's knowledge, demand for, use of and adherence to PEP through new channels. This mixed-method study examined five research questions concerning the perceptions and experiences of various groups regarding accessing and utilizing PEP and explored opinions on alternate delivery options to broaden access.MethodsThe total number of end-users interviewed for this study via qualitative and quantitative interview methodologies was 1,156. We spoke with a total of 236 end-users through qualitative Focus Groups (FGs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) and surveyed 920 end-users with a questionnaire in Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, including members of key populations (Female Sex Workers, Members of the LGBTQ + Community, People Who Inject Drugs).ResultsPrompted awareness of PEP varied across the study countries (56.2% overall). Healthcare providers (doctors and nurses) were cited by end-user respondents as primary sources of information on HIV and PEP. PEP information evaluation revealed that condomless sex or condom malfunction were the emergency situations that resonated most with end-users. The majority (86.4%) cited a perceived likelihood to use PEP if exposed to HIV. A general hospital was deemed most acceptable for PEP access by end-users in all three countries (81.2%); clinical routes were perceived as preferable in terms of broadening access to PEP, with key reasons being convenience (68.2%), trustworthiness (56.5%) and knowledge (56.5%). End-users emphasized the need for consistent, correct, and supportive interaction points with healthcare providers to complete PEP treatment and follow-up.ConclusionsWHO's recent update to the PEP guidelines recommends community-based distribution and task-sharing of PEP. Uptake is dependent on confidentiality and privacy of services as well as on increasing awareness and knowledge of the PEP pathway. Provision of PEP by healthcare providers needs to incorporate multiple end-user touch/access-points with emotional support for greater adherence, and our study highlights the different preferences and access contexts among end-users for PEP.

In 2021, around ** percent of individuals living in the District of Columbia identified as LGBT. Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon also had high rates, exceeding *** percent. Mississippi and North Dakota had the lowest rates of LGBT populations, the only states with less than **** percent.