The Safest and Unsafest Holiday Destinations for LGBTQ+ People

For LGBTQ+ holiday makers, planning a trip abroad can mean you have to consider a little bit more than just how far your hotel is from the beachfront. You might also want to find out how safe your desired destination is for you, so that you can enjoy your holiday without worrying about your personal safety and focus on the things that matter most on holiday – taking in the sights, soaking up the sun, and exploring new cultures!

To find out which destinations are the safest for LGBTQ+ holiday makers, Merchant Machine has analysed metrics such as the level of protection against LGBTQ+ hate crime and speech, and gay marriage laws. We’ve also looked at crime statistics on a more general level, including robbery rates, crime indexes and the peacefulness of each country according to the Global Peace Index.

Our anti LGBTQ+ discrimination policy score takes into account several factors, including:

Laws against hate crimes relating to sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersexuality
Laws against hate speech relating to sexual orientation and gender identity
Policies tackling hatred relating to sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersexuality

Malta is the safest holiday destination for LGBTQ+ people

Malta comes out on top as the safest destination for LGBTQ+ holiday makers. The Mediterranean island country has an LGBTQ+ travel safety index of 369, which after Canada is the second best figure for this metric out of every country we analysed, and a relatively low robbery rate of 47.

Malta’s travel security risk rating is 1, which is classified as low on a scale ranging from 0-4. A country with a low risk rating is politically and socially stable with few prominent security concerns and low levels of non-violent crime.

Other destinations that score highly in our analysis are Chile and Luxembourg. Homosexuality and gay marriage are legal in both of these countries, and whilst Luxembourg is considered a low travel security risk country, Chile is considered moderate risk.

For Chile, this means that although the country is typically politically stable, there are periodic demonstrations and protests, with possible instances of violent civil unrest.

Rank	Country	LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index	LGBTQ+ Hate Crime & Speech Index	LGBTQ+ Laws (Homosexuality)	LGBTQ+ Laws (Gay Marriage)	Robbery Rate	Crime Index	*Travel Security Risk Rating	Global Peace Index
1	Malta	369	6	Legal	Legal	47	40.39	1 Low	-
2	Chile	255	0	Legal	Legal	633	53.42	2 Moderate	1.831
3	Luxembourg	269	4	Legal	Legal	76	34.13	1 Low	-
4	Belgium	351	0	Legal	Legal	167	44.58	1 Low	1.496
5	Sweden	377	4	Legal	Legal	86	48	1 Low	1.46
6	New Zealand	303	0	Legal	Legal	78	42.88	1 Low	1.253
7	France	339	8	Legal	Legal	150	51.99	1 Low	1.868
8	Ireland	296	8	Legal	Legal	45	45.51	1 Low	1.326
9	United Kingdom	346	8	Legal	Legal	120	46.07	1 Low	1.658
10	Canada	384	0	Legal	Legal	62	41.89	1 Low	1.33

*Travel security risk rating

0- minor
1- low
2- moderate
3- high
4- extreme

The UK Ranks as the 9th Safest Holiday Destination for LGBTQ+ Travellers

The UK comes in 9th in our analysis of the safest holiday destinations for LGBTQ+ people.

This country has the sixth highest score in our analysis for the LGBTQ+ travel safety index with 346, and has a travel security risk rating of 1, which is considered to be low risk. Homsexuality and gay marriage are both legal here, and there are laws against hate speech and crimes relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Russia is the most dangerous holiday destination for LGBTQ+ people

Merchant Machine’s research found that Russia is the most dangerous holiday destination for LGBTQ+ people, compared with the rest of the OCED countries we analysed.

With the lowest LGBTQ+ travel safety score of any country on our list (-1), the worst score for anti LGBTQ+ discrimination policyLGBTQ+ hate crime and speech (16), and gay marriage still being illegal, Russia tops our list as the least safe country.

According to our research, Russia has no national, federal, or local laws to protect people against discriminationhate crimes and speech relating to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersexuality.

Russia also ranks as the least peaceful country out of every destination we analysed, with a Global Peace Index score of 2.993. The lower this figure is, the more peaceful the country is – it reflects the level of societal safety and security, the ongoing domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarisation within the country.

Following Russia as the second least safe destination for LGBTQ+ people to visit on holiday is Israel, which scores 219 for LGBTQ+ travel safety and 4 on our anti LGBTQ+ discrimination policyLGBTQ+ hate crime and speech index.

Other dangerous countries include Turkey, Mexico, and South Korea. Whilst homoexuality is not illegal in any of these countries, gay marriage is only legal in Mexico. It is unrecognised in both Turkey and South Korea.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries

Rank	Country	LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index	Anti LGBTQ+ discrimination policy Index	LGBTQ+ Laws (Homosexuality)	LGBTQ+ Laws (Gay Marriage)	Robbery Rate	Crime Index	*Travel Security Risk Rating	Global Peace Index
1	Russia	-1	16	Legal	Not Legal	6	39.99	2 Moderate	2.993
2	Israel	219	4	Legal	-	37	31.47	2 Moderate	2.633
3	Turkey	48	0	Legal	Unrecognised	24	39.62	2 Moderate	2.843
4	Mexico	255	0	Legal	Legal	179	54.19	3 High	2.62
5	South Korea	93	14	Legal	Unrecognised	2	26.68	1 Low	1.877
6	Estonia	197	0	Legal	Civil Unions	15	23.71	1 Low	1.612
7	Greece	175	14	Legal	Civil Unions	40	45.85	2 Moderate	1.932
8	Japan	83	10	Legal	Unrecognised	2	22.19	1 Low	1.373
9	Switzerland	270	8	Legal	Legal	21	21.62	1 Low	1.323
10	Slovenia	243	2	Legal	Civil Unions	11	22.28	1 Low	1.315

*Travel security risk rating

0- minor
1- low
2- moderate
3- high
4- extreme

Now that you know the safest and least safe countries for LGBTQ+ holiday makers, will you keep this information in mind when planning your next trip away?

Methodology:

Based on the 38 OECD countries, we ranked each country across several categories: LGBTQ+ travel safety, LGBTQ+ hate crime and speech laws, LGBTQ+ rights (to marry), robbery rates, crime rates, travel security risk, and peacefulness.

Sources:

Global peace Index