Want a Safe Lesbian Travel Destination? Check These 5 Resources
Planning a trip shouldn’t feel like a gamble, yet every lesbian traveler knows the drill. You Google a place, skimming for rainbow flags, sapphic bar nights, and other signs it’s not just lesbian safe. You’ll be welcome to be yourself there—including holding hands, touching and kissing your partner on a romantic couples trip.
If you’re tired of guessing which destinations are genuinely lesbian friendly and which ones only look good on Instagram, you’re in the right place. I spend a lot of time digging into the indexes and reports that paint a clearer picture of safety, rights, and on-the-ground reality for queer travelers.
And this post breaks down the best of them.
If you’re just here for one quick link, my go-to travel index is Equaldex. Skip to the listing to see why I love it so much and what I look for when I check a listing. But Equaldex is just one tool and honestly it might not be the best tool for every trip. There are others worth checking out.
You’ll see how different safety indexes work, where their data comes from, and what each one gets right for lesbians and queer couples specifically. Think of it as your shortcut to traveling smarter, safer, and with way less emotional labor. Because you deserve to step into a new place with confidence instead of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.
And while there’s one resource on this list that’s designed just for sapphic couples, solo lesbians can use these resources, too!
My Top Lesbian Travel Resources
Sometimes you want to do your own research and plan a trip. And sometimes you want something done for you. Bonus points when it’s queer and you know you’ll be with other queer women and nonbinary people!
So if you want a fun vacation without doing the work, no worries. My safe lesbian travel group lists have you covered.
Single lesbians and older lesbian travel groups have their own lists. So whether you’re dreaming of an Olivia cruise with all that eye candy or hoping to explore a far-flung destination like New Zealand on a walking tour, these lists make planning easy!
Love Inc’s LGBTQ+ Honeymoon Travel Safety Index
When Love Inc saw a gap in the market for romantic travelers, they developed a honeymoon safety index to fill it. Their new index ranks every US state by how queer friendly it is—specifically for queer couples that are looking to hold hands and kiss.
Because let’s face it, many of us go discreet when we travel to avoid the rude looks and burning stares. But on a honeymoon, we shouldn’t have to hide. We deserve to celebrate our love.
The Love Inc LGBTQ+ Honeymoon Travel Safety Index gives every state a score and a letter grade. Just like in school, A is top marks and F means you failed.
The numeric score and letter grade lets gay and lesbian couples compare and make educated decisions.
Love Inc uses six criteria to evaluate a destination’s lesbian travel safety:
- Legal protections for same-sex couples
- Anti-LGBTQ+ laws
- Data on hate crimes
- Social attitudes toward LGBTQ+ issues
- Inclusive hospitality (like LGBTQ friendly hotels)
- Access to affirming medical care
To make their gay and lesbian travel safety index, Love Inc relies on some of the same trusted resources I do. Places like HRC, Movement Advancement Project, and the Pew Resource Center.
So you can rely on it to be trustworthy.
Want a glimpse at which states score best and which do the worst? Here’s an infographic I made.
ILGA’s Rainbow Map
Craving a hot European summer?
ILGA’s Rainbow Map breaks down 49 lesbian travel destinations in Europe and Central Asia.
A related map evaluates the same countries on trans rights.
ILGA’s Rainbow Map is color coded. Green means best. Yellow means caution. Red means reconsider.
The trans map uses shades of blue. The darker the blue, the stronger the protections for trans people. Dark grey means no protections – so go at your own risk.
I wrote a whole post unpacking how the Rainbow Map ranks countries, so take a look to learn more!
Bottom line: It’s a great place to check when planning a sapphic European vacation, or if you’re looking to go nomadic in a place you can be yourself!
Sonders & Beach LGBTQ Index
Hospitality provider Sonders & Beach created a unique AI-powered LGBTQ travel safety index.
This queer travel safety index was developed for their QueerVadis LGBTQ accreditation program, which I’ve written about before.
It’s intended for hospitality companies to see how well they rank compared to their peers, but lesbian travelers can use it to check the LGBTQ friendliness score of a hotel before they book, which I think is pretty cool!
The AI tool looks at websites and user reviews to get a real-time rating on queer inclusivity.
I’m skeptical of using AI in travel planning. But using it quickly sort and rank hotels in a city I’m going to, so I don’t have to find the needle in the haystack? That feels useful. And given that this tool is rolled out by a company that is committed to inclusivity in travel, I can recommend it.
Right now, you can only search for properties in Italy. If the tool incorporates other countries as it matures, I’ll let you know!
Spartacus Gay Travel Index
The classic gay travel list has made a comeback.
If you don’t know queer history, Spartacus was one of the first gay guides out there.
Just like the Green Book did for Black travelers, Spartacus guides let gay men know where they’d be welcomed in times when it was against the law to be openly gay.
Spartacus went digital only with their LGBTQ travel guidebooks before stopping publications. But they still put out their index. Actually, they do two. An international edition and one for the US, given how dramatic the vibe shift on LGBTQ rights is from one state to the next.
Like other resources on this list, Spartacus turns to trustworthy sources to vet a country’s safety for lesbian travelers.
They check sites like Equaldex and Human Rights Watch, two of the resources I turned to most often when writing my queer travel book, (Out) On the Road.
The Spartacus Gay Travel Index looks at protective measures, like nondiscrimination laws, transgender rights, and same-sex marriage.
They also scan for negatives. Are LGBTQ identities criminalized? Can you be jailed or killed for being gay? Is the government repressive? Does censorship exist? Can you celebrate Pride without fear of reprisal?
Their US gay travel list evaluates states on both their laws (good and bad) and the social climate. Do states have queer-owned businesses, nightlife, and resources for LGBTQ+ people, or is it pretty much crickets?
The presence of a big queer scene suggests a state will be supportive.
In the most recent Spartacus US gay travel index, New York took first place. California came in second and three states tied for third place: Oregon, Washington, and Nevada.
Equaldex LGBTQ Equality Index
Of all the lesbian travel lists, this one is my favorite.
It’s the country-level travel guide I turn to the most often.
Equalex ranks every country on laws around sexual orientation and gender identity.
Think same sex marriage, whether homosexuality is legal, whether queer couples can adopt children, whether the country legally recognizes nonbinary people, and whether people can change their gender or get gender affirming care.
Green means good and red means bad.
Public opinion surveys unpack social attitudes. How do locals really feel about queer issues? Do people support affirming policies, or do they negatively perceive LGBTQ people?
Digging a layer deeper, you can track the country’s history. This means you can see when homosexuality was legalized (in countries it had been criminalized). You can see when same-sex marriage was legalized.
You can even drill down to the regional level or, for LGBTQ US travel, the state level.
Got an index I should know about for this list? Contact me, and I’ll add it.
One caveat on some of these lists. You can’t track pending legislation. Just laws that have been passed. While that obviously makes sense, proposed anti-LGBTQ legislation can turn the tide of public opinion. We’ve seen this in recent years in the US and UK dramatically, but it happens all over the world. Just something to keep in mind.
A safety ranking can only tell you so much about a place. It can’t accurately predict your safety. It isn’t a guarantee. While that might seem disappointing, I find it freeing. We don’t have to stick to places we are told are safe, and we can venture off the beaten path as long as we prepare ourselves accordingly. For help with that, start with the trip planning section. Or pick up my book to get instant access to all my best secrets!
