Europe has a new best country for LGBTQ+ rightshttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/05/europe-has-a-new-best-country-for-lgbtq-rights/ 🔗Faefyx Collington (25 May 2026)
ILGA Europe has published its annual Rainbow Map and LGBTQ+ rights index, and Spain has now claimed the number one spot for the most LGBTQ+-positive laws and policies. Spain displaced Malta from the number one spot, a position that Malta had held for the last 10 years.
ILGA explained in its report that, "Spain's rise to the top reflects a combination of achievements, including a fully functioning depathologization of trans identities in healthcare, new legal protections, new national LGBTI and trans strategies, a new independent equal treatment and non-discrimination authority, and a determined fightback against far-right attempts to dismantle national trans protections."
The ILGA Rainbow Map is based on a survey of 76 criteria across seven categories covering laws and policies on "Equality and Non-Discrimination," "Legal Gender Recognition," "Civil Society Space," and more. Each country's ranking is then expressed as a percentage and you can view the color coded and interactive map here.
Malta has only lost one criteria point for explicit policies in "Goods & Services (Sex Characteristics)," dropping it to 87.73%. But in contrast, Spain has improved greatly, moving from 78% which put it in fifth place in 2025, to 88.7% for a first place position this year.
