this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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[–] ambitious_bones@lemmy.world 99 points 1 month ago (6 children)
[–] Mora@pawb.social 64 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Interesting to compare that to the ILGA Rainbowmap which just contains Europe.

The european countries from the list above rank as follows:

  • Netherlands 13th
  • France 15th
  • Austria 16th
  • UK 22nd (below EU average)
  • Ireland 14th
  • Iceland 3rd
  • Switzerland 18th

Now obviously they use different scoring ('travel' vs 'living there') but I think it is interesting that they differ that much. Also the groups differ and the one from the article seems pretty broad. I would hope everywhere with substantial progress in LGBTQIA+ rights would also have proper womens rights and protections as well, since it is the same side of the (manysided) equality-coin. Imo racism is still pretty bad and widespread across europe, so not sure how much that factors into the list (though if it would be a strong factor I would be surprised to see Austria and Switzerland on this list).

[–] SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 month ago

Absolutely - I was going to say, Spain is head and shoulders above the UK for LGBT safety (those are the only two countries I've spent a lot of time in recently).

Also worth noting, I've been in the non-touristy parts of north Vietnam for a month now (much more conservative than the south), and having talked to quite a few LGBT people here, it's safe to live as an openly queer person, they just occasionally have to put up with assholes ... just like everywhere else. And as a guiri, even the assholes don't want to confront me, an obviously queer woman.

[–] volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 month ago

I'm surprised that the Netherlands don't make it into the top 10 though. My German view is definitely biased, but when I travel there it just feels like (well, used to feel like) they got other stuff to think about than other people's gender and sexuality. Be what you want to be, as long as you're going to our coffee shops kind of. As basically all European countries are shifting to the right more and more, I imagine the relaxed climate has also changed. Also the Netherlands are more than just the big cities, God knows how LGBTQA+ friendly they are in Overjissel. I only played cow cricket there.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I don't think it's surprising the lists differ a lot.

  • Living there - will be more about the governments beliefs, and the law
  • Travel - will be more about what everyday people think and treat others

These are often very different, on any issue.

[–] CareHare@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

I'm not a woman, nor LGBTQ+, but to me at least, this graph looks a lot closer to reality.

[–] cows_are_underrated@feddit.org 32 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Why the fuck is the UK even listed at all? The country that proudly says, that it is determining sex based on what you were born with and that everyone has to use bathrooms AS according to their birth sex.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

Because it's a list about safety, not about beliefs. Regardless of what "the country says", you are not in any danger if you disagree. And outside of that issue, it's a very welcoming country for LGBT folks (yes, including T, despite what the government may say).

Especially since it's in the context of travel, so citizen rights are less relevant as they don't apply to you anyway, and it's much more relevant how you are going to be treated as a tourist, as you choose from the several LGBT friendly pubs down the road.

And that's still hyper focusing on one issue, totally ignoring the list also concerns safety for women and people of color, which can bring you up on the list.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

it’s a very welcoming country for LGBT folks (yes, including T, despite what the government may say)

I live in a largely rural county, and that's been my experience too. A lot of the pubs and clubs in town not only have substantial LGBT clientele, but also management, and the straight clients don't seem at all bothered by that. And it's common to see groups of neighbors and coworkers that include same-sex couples. I'd venture that racism and xenophobia are more pervasive here than homophobia. And even those don't seem that bad-- my visibly foreign wife and kids got more shit in London than they do here. I'm foreign too, though not visibly, and I've never had problems, except a couple encounters with belligerent drunks, and those are easily handled. Those idiots would pick a fight with a hatstand and still manage to lose.

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[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

UK here. Starmer went full TERF for some moronic reason (far from his first bad decision), but we still have only non-gender-specific toilets at my rather large workplace. So it's bigoted and nasty, but it hasn't been applied with the fascist zeal that it would be in the States.

[–] cows_are_underrated@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago

How common are gender neutral restrooms in the UK in general? I'm generally curious, since at least in Germany its not that common to find some.

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[–] ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

What a low bar the world has for safety when this terf island is so high in the rankings

[–] Paddzr@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Yeah that list is bullshit.

[–] blinfabian@feddit.nl 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)
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[–] AccoSpoot@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 1 month ago

"United Kingdom"

I call bullshit, the government is currently trying to pretend trans folks don't exist and the people about to take over are more generally horrible.

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I love you, Canada. I want to join you one day. Please acquire California.

[–] CowsLookLikeMaps@sh.itjust.works 62 points 1 month ago (2 children)

38.33% of Californians voted for Trump last election. In our most right-wing province of Alberta, 21% of people hold positive views of Trump. Adding a blue state to Canada would bring in millions of far-right voters and move our country significantly right.

Let's remain friends. :)

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I doubt those fuckers would stay in California if we left to join you.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Not a risk I'm willing to take :/

Edit: and who knows? Our level of free healthcare may radicalize them :)

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Given our own right wingers would rather seperate an entire province than just join the states themselves, i doubt your rigbt wingers would just walk away from california in this hypothetical scenario

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[–] AntiBullyRanger@ani.social 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

Glad to see folks🧵 questioning such blatant bait.

Rainbow Map has done an extensive peer reviewed study on this. Fuck🖕sales.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

In hindsight having "cult" in the publication's name should have been a red flag.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Huh, I'm surprised to see Spain being so green. Wouldn't have thought it possible years ago when I lived there.

Nice to see Denmark is basically 100%.

Sad to see Eastern Europe being so red and orange. I got some gay friends there. Was hoping it'd get safer for them as time went on...

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[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No Scandinavian countries among top 10?
That doesn't seem right.

[–] sahin@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I dont trust the data any more. You should check how they managed to create the list, which sources they used etc. Most of the data are made by the West, so West countries top the list all the time. Thailand should definitely be in top 10!

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Thailand should definitely be in top 10!

From what I have heard, that seems right.

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[–] davidagain@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Thailand should definitely be in top 10!

I'm not entirely sure that all of the trans people are safe and well treated in Thailand.

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[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

I've also heard good things about Argentina

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

Blogspam. Original: https://www.bhtp.com/blog/safest-places-to-travel/

The list of safest overall:

  1. Netherlands
  2. Australia
  3. Austria
  4. Iceland
  5. Canada
  6. New Zealand
  7. United Arab Emirates
  8. Switzerland
  9. Japan
  10. Ireland
  11. Belgium
  12. Portugal
  13. France
  14. United Kingdom
  15. Denmark

They have other lists in there too.

[–] PanGodofPanic@lemmy.blahaj.zone 41 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The UAE being on that list immediately screams that this list is horse shit, possibly specifically UAE funded.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Despite being a proud Canadian this seems to be the only logical conclusion.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Canada is way better than just 2 places better than UAE.
We had a woman recently jailed in UAE for months, because she was divorced here in Denmark as a Dane living in Denmark.
But her husband was a muslim, and filed a complaint in UAE while she was on holiday there. And she was arrested for being divorced!!!

Yes definitely very safe. 🤣🤣🤣

I have to puke every time I hear women or minorities praise Dubai or anything UAE. It's a shithole dictatorship kept in check with religious fanaticism. 🤢🤮

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thank you for sharing your perspective. From mine I have never heard a good thing with regards to human rights from there. As a Canadian I want to emphasize we shouldn't be complacent, we have a lot of work to do. But we can still recognise how far we have come.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Even the best democracies seem to have some way to go regarding LGBT acceptance.
Here we are pretty good with the LGB but the T part is still somewhat problematic.
It's not like it's dangerous, but there is a lot of disrespect and lack of understanding.

[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 39 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

How is UAE No. 7?! There are literally emirates where you will get assaulted on the streets for being visibly non cishet, from what I've heard. Also according to Wikipedia, gay people can be murdered for the crime of being gay there, and according to Virgin Atlantic, you are not allowed to import "flyers promoting anti-Islam (including GSM) propaganda, intended for distribution"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBTQ_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates

https://www.virginatlantic.com/policies/dangerous-or-restricted-items

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

UAE is like Saudi Arabia (maybe not quite as extreme), where there's a big LBGT scene on the down-low, but also draconian laws against it that are selectively enforced. Think Victorian England, but with more executions. And similar levels of hypocrisy. I worked over there, and queer colleagues were never short of companionship, but they had to be very deeply closeted. And every couple of years, the government would raid a club, arrest a few people, torture them and maybe decapitate a few. And, like everything over there, if you have money and/or connections, it's easier for you.

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[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 month ago

How is UAE No. 7?! There are literally emirates where you will get assaulted on the streets for being visibly non cishet, from what I've heard

[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 month ago

Are they pull this list out of their ass? Like seriously? UAE?

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[–] orioler25@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Terrifying. That's the bar?

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[–] x00z@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How is this "world news"? The news is the full list and not just Canada.

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[–] can@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Our country isn't easy to get in to but you are definitely welcome! There's no place free of bigots but at least in the cities there are enough of us to protect you.

Edit: not easy as an immigrant I mean. Getting permanent residence (PR), etc. Tourists from most countries should have little trouble travelling (as long as you don't have a layover in the USA).

And depending on the area many small towns are probably fine also.

[–] Ulvain@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Are you a healthcare worker thinking of moving to Canada? If so there's a bunch of Canadians ready to welcome you and walk you through the process! https://engageq.notion.site/infusionhosts

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I realise this isn't targeted at me.

but for anyone reading

There is desperate need accross the nation for professionals at all levels of care. The exception to my above comment is if you're in an in-demand field. It will be much easier. The scope of that may have narrowed but nurses, care workers, etc. are in high demand everywhere here and will fast-track you for sure.

Edit: and our birthrate is dangerously low. We need immigrants to continue to exist as a nation.

[–] agingelderly@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

What if I promise to become a nurse if you (Canada) puts me through the schooling and gives me citizenship?

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[–] CareHare@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

I'm a nurse but life is too good in Belgium. Only thing I miss here is your astonishing nature and the legal green. Though it's not worth trading my friends, family and culture over for me.

A nephew of mine did take the leap and lives with his Canadian girlfriend (yes I know this is a meme, but I've met her a couple of times, she's real) somewhere in Canada. Should definitely plan for a visit once my babies are a little bit older.

[–] JamesBlonde@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Doesn't feel like it lately with how the conservatives are acting...

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