Malta has, once again, strengthened its position as an LGBTIQ+ friendly nation!

For the seventh year in a row, our tiny islands have topped the annual Rainbow Map Index – a continental index that measures how friendly European countries’ laws are with the LGBTIQ+ community.

Issued by ILGA-Europe, the Rainbow Map Index ranks countries based on seven criteria:

• Equality and non-discrimination
• Family
• Hate crime and hate speech
• Legal gender recognition
• Intersex bodily integrity
• Civil society space
• Asylum

In general, said criteria seek to gauge how the laws and policies of each country impact the lives of LGBTIQ+ people.

Malta achieved 100 per cent in every category apart from ‘Equality and non-discrimination’, in which we scored 76 per cent, and ‘Intersex bodily integrity’, in which we scored 50 per cent.

These numbers mean that Malta achieved an overall score of 92 per cent, placing it at the absolute top of the table.

Credit: rainbow-europe.org

Minister Byron Camilleri celebrated this achievement.

“Such results aren’t simply statistics. Behind every number and map are countless individuals and families. We don’t seek to obtain more civil rights to take credit, rather, we do it because we believe in this cause, because we are convinced that no minority is to be considered less than any other person.”

Second place is taken up by Denmark, which trails behind by almost 20 per cent, having achieved a total score of 73.78 per cent. The remaining three of the top five positions are occupied by Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Azerbaijan, Turkey,  Armenia, Russia, and Belarus are the five least LGBTIQ+ friendly countries in Europe.

Well done, Malta!