New report ranks Belgium 2nd-best in Europe for LGBTQIA+ people -

ILGA-Europe is an independent, international non-governmental umbrella organisation uniting over 700 organisations from 54 countries across Europe and Central Asia.

Since 2009, the organisation has been producing an annual assessment – measuring the experience of queer people based on a number of key indicators.

The index ranks countries from zero to 100 per cent, with zero representing gross violations of human rights, and 100 representing full equality.

Countries are marked in seven categories: equality and non-discrimination, family, hate crime and hate speech, legal gender recognition, intersex bodily integrity, civil society space, and asylum.

The 2023 rankings have now been released.

Malta has retained top position on the table, with a total score of 89%.

Belgium has been ranked in second place on the table – scoring 76%, equal with Denmark.

Rising in the ranks to fourth place was Spain (74%).

The UK continues to slide in the rankings, now down to 17th position.

The worst countries for LGBTQ people in Europe are Azerbaijan (2%), Turkey (4%), and Armenia (8%).

Overall, ILGA concludes that LGBTQ equality is advancing across Europe, although there remain a number of challenging countries and areas of concern.

Read the full report