| ILGA Europe, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, is a worldwide federation of more than 2,000 organisations in over 170 countries and territories campaigning for the human rights of LGBTI+ people. |
The Rainbow Map ranks 49 European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI+ people, from 0-100%.
It is supported by their Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI+ People in Europe and Central Asia,
which gathers and presents qualitative data, illustrating how these laws and policies impact politics, society,
and the daily lives of LGBTI+ people.
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In the 2026 survey recently published Spain takes the top ranking with a score of 88.7%. The government has followed through on its commitments set out in the
2023 LGBTI+ and trans laws by adopting equality action plans for LGBTI+ and trans rights, establishing an independent authority for equal treatment, and
fully implementing the depathologisation of trans people in the healthcare system.
Malta drops one place to 2nd in the ranking with a score of 88%. While the slide in the ranking is technically due to Spain’s rise, it also reflects Malta’s stagnation and lack of continuous reform. The country still lacks a comprehensive anti-discrimination framework, which could be addressed through the Equality Bill that was tabled in 2019 and has been stalled since. | |
ILGA Europe Rainbow Map 2026 Rankings |
Iceland retains the 3rd place in the ranking with a total score of 86%. The government renewed its equality action plan, reaffirming its commitment
to legal progress. Some measures set in the action plan have started being implemented, such as a training framework for asylum caseworkers in
cooperation with their national LGBTI+ organisations.
There are certainly some surprising rankings. Whilst it's good that The Netherlands ranked higher than the European Average, it only managed a score of 63.82% and 13th position. The country did well on Civil Society Space, Equality and Family life but less well on combating Hate Crime and Hate Speech. It will be interesting to see if their ranking rises in the next few years with the appointment of Rob Jetten as Prime Minister, the first LGBT person to take on that role in the country. He's been in post in February 2026. The United Kingdom came in 22nd position with an alarming and disappointing score of just 43.9%. The UK had a good ranking for Civil Society Space and Family life but did less well on Equality and had a poor score for combating Hate Crime and Hate Speech. The UK had almost non-existing rankings for Legal Gender Recognition and unsurprisingly Asylum. A very surprising outcome for Italy which is 36th in the table with just 24.11%. Rankings for Equality and Family life were very poor, and whilst Asylum scored better than many countries, there were marked down with 0% for combating Hate Crime and Hate Speech. The three countries at the other end of the Rainbow Map scale are Russia (2%), Azerbaijan (2%), and Turkey (5%). Romania has a 19% score and drops one place to 42nd, remaining as the lowest ranked EU member state, closely followed by Bulgaria (20%) and then Poland (22%). |
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In conclusion, every survey of this kind has good and bad news.
Albania passed a new Law on Gender Equality and amended the Law on Protection from Discrimination to strengthen their anti-discrimination framework. Spain adopted equality action plans for LGBTI+ and trans rights and established an independent authority for equal treatment. New blood donation rules in Sweden removed blanket bans on specific groups. Greece reintroduced a blood donation ban. Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to renew its equality action plan while France didn’t properly implement its existing action plan. The United Kingdom continues to stall on the proposed ban on sexual orientation conversion therapy. The Netherlands who host EuroPride, World Pride and their own spectacular Amsterdam Pride from 25th July to 8th August 2026, are also celebrating 25 years of marriage equality, having been the first country in the World to legalise same-sex marriage back in April of 2001. Sources: OutUK and ILGA Europe Rainbow Map (2026). |
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