The friendliest countries for LGBT travellers are Canada, Portugal and Sweden, according to Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2019, a gay travel index released earlier this week. The index ranked 197 countries based on 14 criteria in three categories.
The first category consists of civil rights. Among other things, it assesses whether gays and lesbians are allowed to marry, whether anti-discrimination laws exist or whether the age of consent is the same for heterosexual and homosexual couples. Discrimination is included in the second category. These include, for example, travel restrictions for HIV-positive persons and the prohibition of Pride parades and other demonstrations. The third category includes threats to the person through persecution, imprisonment or death penalty.
Three countries tied for first place while 13 countries, almost all in Europe, tied for fourth place. The countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Reunion, Spain and United Kingdom.
However, the US failed to make the top 45, instead sharing 47th place. The index pointed to Donald Trump’s ‘attempts to curtail transgender rights in the military’ for the decline. It ranked with: Bermuda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Macao, Seychelles and Thailand.
Out of 197 countries ranked, Chechnya is bottom. The country is involved in ‘state-organized persecution and killings of homosexuals.’ Furthermore, rounding out the bottom five were: Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Yemen.
Spartacus is a joke. Ranking the entire United States of America #47 on a Spartacus travel index -- the same as Cuba and The Bahamas is stupid and closeminded. If they want to urge a travel boycott of the United States of America because of President Trump that is one thing, they are welcome to do so. But if they want to be serious as an editorial product they should not be confusing travel recommendations with left wing political propaganda.
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