Spartacus Gay Travel Index (GTI)

Spartacus is publishing the Gay Travel Index since 2012. There are still many places in the world where LGBTQIA+ must fear for their happiness and safety. Due to the sometimes wide differences in the world, it can happen that holidaymakers endanger themselves simply by unwise behaviour. In order to support the safety of gay tourists worldwide, we publish the Gay Travel Index. It serves as a first guideline – you can find more detailed information about your travel destinations on our website and blog. This year’s Index is presented by Booking.com and its Travel Proud program. The program provides free inclusive hospitality training for accommodations to help them gain a better understanding of the specific challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ travelers. There are currently over 95,300 Travel Proud-certified properties globally on Booking.com.

The annually updated SPARTACUS Gay Travel Index provides travelers with information about the situation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, intersex, asexual, and queer individuals (LGBTQIA+) in a total of 216 countries and regions. The US Index specifically covers the fifty states of the United States.

The evaluation criteria are continuously refined to enhance the visibility of a broader spectrum within the queer community. This includes assessing the rights of intersex individuals and the recognition of a third gender option, as well as acknowledging the positive trend of more countries banning conversion practices. The “Gay Marketing” category highlights the growing significance of targeted tourism for queer travelers.

The SPARTACUS Gay Travel Index aims to balance the rights of local LGBTQIA+ communities with the interests of queer tourists. The focus is on both the safety of queer individuals in each country and raising awareness of existing inequalities. We believe that some travelers prefer to visit countries where the LGBTQIA+ community is an accepted and valued part of society. At the same time, other travelers may deliberately choose destinations where they can engage in dialogue with local queer communities facing oppression. The index serves as a reliable decision-making tool for both perspectives.

The index is compiled using various sources, including equaldex.com, ilga.org, transrespect.org, and publicly accessible platforms from NGOs such as Human Rights Watch, as well as governmental organizations.

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HOW THE RATING SYSTEM WORKS

It has a negative impact on the rating of a county, if human rights are not observed nor guaranteed or even worse, violated. A zero rating as lowest rating is only awarded if a county is lacking in important but not elementary categories such as LGBTQIA+ marketing or anti-discrimination legislation. The weighing of the factors as well as the categories themselves are subject to constant editorial monitoring. Both can be modified if necessary, which we indicate clearly if it is done.

Countries in which the death sentences for homosexuals is enshrined in law but is no longer performed have received one negative point. If people are still executed in a country because of their homosexuality, the country has been given five negative points. We can thus assure that the countries concerned get their deserved place at the bottom of our ranking.

Countries in which islamic sharia law applies in parts (Indonesia / Aceh, Pakistan and Libya minus one point) or are applied (Nigeria minus three points) are a special case in this system.

Gay Travel Index USA

The legal situation for queer people varies widely within the 50 federal US states. We have therefore decided in 2020 to publish the USA Index again and to examine each state individually.

For 15 years now, a culture war over liberality has been intensifying in the USA. What began with anti-trans laws and campaigns culminated in tough censorship since Trumps first administration: In schools in more and more (Republican-governed) states in particular, it is forbidden to teach or even talk about sexual orientation or genderidentity. We have therefore added the censorship rating category.

The hate crime laws, gay and trans* panic defense and queer infrastructure categories are tailored specifically for the USA. This is where differences between the individual countries manifest themselves. With queer infrastructure we have in addition to the category of LGBTQIA+marketing created a balance to the presentation of the legal situation.

Here we‘ve taken a look at which states have more than one city with prides, queer establishments, and other events. This may put small states at a disadvantage, but it makes sense that even states with regressive and anti-queer legislation can have cities with great queer diversity and offerings.

Under the hostility heading, we mainly counted murders of members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the last year. Other physical or verbal assaults were weighted when the final score was inconclusive based on the number of murders. Incidents in which people were offended or being physically attacked is almost everywhere. This can also happen in states that have not received any negative points.

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