Last Updated on 05/22/2025 by Lindsey
What’s with all the posts about the safest countries to travel if you’re LGBTQ lately?
If your social media feeds and LGBTQ newsletters have been awash with blog post lists of safe countries for LGBT travelers, that’s because Spartacus recently released their gay travel index for 2025.
If you’re just looking for the safest countries for gay travel in 2025, it’s Canada, Iceland, Portugal, Spain and Malta. Those countries are tied for number one – and they’re also on our list of the best countries in Europe for gay and lesbian travel.
If you’re curious what the Spartacus index looks at when ranking safe countries for LGBT folks, or who’s behind the ranking, keep reading!
What is the Spartacus Gay Travel Index, anyway?
The Spartacus Gay Travel Index is an annual snapshot of how LGBTQIA+ people are treated around the world, published annually since 2012.
Spartacus started as an LGBTQ guidebook. Actually, the LGBTQ guidebook. There wasn’t much competition in the 1970s, when the first issue was printed!
Back then, the original gay travel guide listed country and city-specific tips, gay-owned businesses, and a rundown of the laws and social acceptance toward LGBTQ+ folks. Resources, including gay support groups and HIV/AIDS hotlines, were also listed.
By the 2010s, when their safe countries for LGBT guidebook went digital-only, editions ran well over 1,000 pages!
Spartacus released digital guides beginning in 2017 before developing an app for LGBTQ travelers.
How Spartacus Ranks LGBTQ-Friendly Countries
Ranking data is pulled from a mix of trusted sources—think IGLTA, Equaldex, and Human Rights Watch.
There’s a points system, where being pro-LGBTQ earns you points and criminalizing LGBTQ identities costs you points.
Countries that kill you for being gay lose five points.
Countries that say they’ll kill you for being gay but don’t enforce the law lose one point.
Countries where sharia law impacts LGBTQ public safety and legal rights (like Nigeria or Indonesia) lose points for that.
The index breaks down the countries ranking with columns for things like:
- LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination
- Same-sex marriage
- Trans rights
- Censorship
- Ban on Pride
- LGBTQ+ murders
- Legal persecution
On the tourism side, it tracks how actively destinations are trying to attract LGBTQ+ travelers (spoiler: not all marketing is meaningful).
Spartacus is great for checking the pulse of a country. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the most useful tools out there for seeing how queer life compares across borders.
I you want to go beyond the numbers, you’ll have to look elsewhere. The guide doesn’t explain why Iceland moved up in the rankings or the US moved down from 41 to 48, for example.
That’s why I tend to check Equaldex or Movement Advancement Project’s LGBTQ maps instead of Spartacus when I’m planning travel. They make it easy to scroll down and find context for a ranking.
Since 2020, Spartacus has released a separate gay travel index for the USA. That’s an acknowledgement that US travel – not to mention daily life – really depends on where you go.
That’s something not everyone understands. Foreigners tend to think about life in a few big cities or coastal states.
Even Americans oversimplify.
People assume I live in New York City because I’m in New York when the truth is, I rarely get down there (and usually it’s to an airport!).
Speaking of New York, it took first place in the USA index!
Hot on its heels is California, followed by a three-way tie for third place with Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
Memorize that for the next time someone asks you where in the US is safe for LGBT! Or send them to this post, which goes into way more detail on LGBTQ safe states.
Why is there a Spartacus US Index?
On the one hand, it reeks of American exceptionalism.
On the other hand, the US is one of the largest countries in the world (in terms of land mass. Population wise, the US is third, after India and China). And attitudes toward LGBTQ people vary widely from one state to the next. But if you’re on my email list, you know that. I say it all the time.
The US list has some fun new categories. Take queer infrastructure for one.
While it feels like a nod to Biden, queer infrastructure looks at how many Pride events, LGBTQ+ spaces, and community resources exist across different cities.
That tips the list in favor of the big states with multiple queer hubs – the ones that are obviously LGBTQ friendly.
The US list also looks at hate crime laws and whether states prohibit the “gay panic” defense, in which queer or transphobia can break someone’s brain so much they cannot be held accountable for their reaction.
My favorite US category? That’s “locals hostile,” which is largely a euphemism for murder.
As a sad reminder of LGBTQ safety in the US, Spartacus concludes their 2025 USA gay travel index by clarify why they’re focused on murders. They write,
“Incidents in which people were offended or being physically attacked is almost everywhere. This can also happen in states that have not received any negative points.”
Bottom Line:
Spartacus Gay Travel Index is one of your options for checking out the safety of a US state or country. I enjoy for tracking year over year trends and checking the pulse of a county, but if you’re looking for reasons (or reassurance), there are other resources that dig deeper.
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