Gay Travel Index 2024 Sees Five Countries Tied For Most LGBTQIA+ Friendly

The Spartacus Gay Travel Index was recently updated for 2024, naming Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and Malta as the most LGBTQIA+ friendly countries in the world. 

With those five tying for joint 1st, Australia trails closely behind at an equal 6th alongside Switzerland, while Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Uruguay tie for equal 8th. 

Meanwhile, countries like the United Kingdom and United States have gone lower down the list in the past year. The UK, previously at 9th in 2023, has gone down to 21st while remaining firmly in the green. Meanwhile, the USA has descended from 35th to 41st this year.

At the other end of the list, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iran and Saudi Arabia are at the bottom of the list at 210th, owing to the fact that the death penalty is still in effect for gay people in these regions. 

Notably, after Russia banned “LGBTQI activism” in 2023, the already gay-unfriendly country has dropped from 177th to 205th – an appropriate spot near the bottom of the list, given Russia’s recent crackdowns on their LGBTQIA+ community. 

Additionally, the travel index includes a segment specifically ranking each US state by its safety for the LGBTQIA+ community. New York was the sole state that took 1st, while California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon followed close behind in 2nd. Oklahoma, like 2023, was bottom of the rankings. 

Countries on watch

The release of the Gay Travel Index noted a number of countries that were under watch for the year ahead due to shifting legislation worldwide surrounding LBGTQIA+ people. 

Ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election, the United States is being placed on watch given the possibility of a Republican win, which could see LGBTQIA+ rights in the country backslide even further. 

Ahead of Thailand’s seemingly inevitable legislation of gay marriage after, Spartacus says that the country would move up to 13th place alongside Taiwan in 2025. 

The report was finalised before Greece’s implementation of marriage equality in 2024, and as such its rise in the 2025 index is “considered certain.” 

Meanwhile, a number of countries in Latin America are feeling the pressure to legislate marriage equality laws due to an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling in 2018. 

Over 20 countries, such as Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Bolivia, are bound by this ruling – with any luck, laws for these countries will come soon.