Here’s a list of the safest – and dangerous – destinations for LGBTQIA travelers this 2024

Part of the LGBTQIA community and looking to hit the road?

The 2024 Gay Travel Index released a listing of countries that are safest to travel, and are hostile to LGBTQIA people.

As FYI: This isn’t PR-for-PR’s-sake; released by Spartacus since 2012, the listing makes use of a rating system with 18 categories, including the existence of anti-discrimination laws, transgender rights, religious influence, prosecution of LGBTQIA people, and the imposition of death penalty for same-sex relationships. Zero points are the neutral mark, with points added or deducted based on human rights — or lack thereof – in the country.

There is a five-way tie for first place this year, with the most queer-friendly destinations earning 12 points each, namely:

• Canada
• Malta
• New Zealand
• Portugal
• Spain

Completing Top 12 are:

• Australia
• Switzerland
• Denmark
• Germany
• Iceland
• Norway
• Uruguay

US of A, the “land of the free” – though apparently not, anymore – only ranked 41^st, with a total of just four points due to religious influence and hostile locals. Colonizing country UK, meanwhile, tumbled from 9^th to 21^st, losing points to diminished LGBT marketing and hostile locals.

The most hostile countries for LGBTQIA people still practice the death penalty for homosexuality. These are:

• Saudi Arabia
• Iran
• Chechnya
• Afghanistan

Russia – another anti-LGBTQIA country – plummeted further, from 177^th in 2023 to 205^th, due to its increased prosecutions of LGBTQIA people.

There were notable developments highlighted by this year’s ranking.

Norway, for one, rose from 17^th to 8^th, thanks largely to the reversal of conversion therapies in the country. Estonia zoomed 15 spots to 32^nd due the legalization of marriage equality in the country.

For those wanting to have a closer look at the USA in particular, the top spot went to New York for its LGBTQIA protections, lack of censorship and conversion therapies, and concerted efforts put into LGBT marketing and infrastructure. This was followed by: California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

In the US, the least LGBTQIA-friendly states are:

• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Tennessee
• Montana
• Oklahoma

So the next time you travel, know where you’re not wanted… or where you’re better off spending your pink dollar/Euro/peso/whatever.