Which countries are LGBTQ+ friendly? What the law and official advice say

The global legal picture from ILGA World

ILGA World is a federation of LGBTI organisations that maintains a database of national laws. Its Pride Month release, timestamped 1 June 2026 with maps dated May 2026, reports that 65 UN member states criminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts. It says the number grew in 2025 for the first time in almost a decade. In the same release, ILGA World reports that the death penalty is the prescribed penalty in 7 UN member states, with 5 more where legal certainty is lacking.

On the other side of the ledger, the same release says marriage equality exists in 37 UN member states and Taiwan, and that 17 UN member states have nationwide bans on so-called conversion practices. A year earlier, the release of 31 May 2025 counted 64 states criminalising and the same 37 states plus Taiwan with marriage equality, so the change between editions is small but real.

The 2026 release names the changes since the previous edition. Burkina Faso introduced a criminalising law, Trinidad and Tobago reversed an earlier decriminalisation ruling, and Senegal tightened its provisions. In the other direction, Saint Lucia decriminalised, Botswana removed remaining colonial-era provisions, and the Dominican Republic decriminalised for its armed forces. We could not open the ILGA World Database itself, which did not load for us, so we give no count here for partnership recognition or for anti-discrimination protections. Look those up country by country in the database.

Europe: the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map and Index 2026

For Europe, ILGA-Europe publishes the Rainbow Map and Index. The 2026 edition came out on 12 May 2026 and covers 49 countries against 76 criteria. We report only the published top places, not the full table. Spain leads with 89 per cent, followed by Malta with 88, Iceland with 86, and Belgium and Denmark with 85 each. At the other end of the published list, Russia and Azerbaijan stand at 2 per cent and Turkey at 5 per cent.

What the index measures matters. It scores laws and policies, such as equality and non-discrimination, family recognition, hate-crime rules and legal gender recognition. It does not measure how a visitor is treated on a given street. Read it as a statement about the legal and institutional framework, and use the full table on the ILGA-Europe site for any other European country. A country high in the table does not predict a particular experience, and one lower down is not a verdict on its people. For wider European context, see our page on safest countries in Europe.

What the UK and Canadian governments say to LGBT+ travellers

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) keeps a general page on LGBT+ foreign travel advice, last updated on 19 June 2023 according to its publication record. It says attitudes abroad can differ widely from those in the UK, that tolerance can vary inside a country (some cities or areas may be more tolerant than rural ones), and that entrapment campaigns, including through dating apps, can target LGBT+ people. It also says some hotels, especially in rural areas, may refuse bookings from same-sex couples, so it advises checking before you go. It also covers health matters such as carrying HIV medication, PrEP or hormone treatment across borders, and says FCDO staff will not make generalisations or assumptions about you or judge you. The FCDO page gives around 70 countries as criminalising consensual same-sex sexual activity and at least 15 as criminalising diverse gender expression through cross-dressing or disguise laws.

The Government of Canada's page on travel and sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics was last modified on 2 October 2026. It tells travellers to read the Laws and culture tab of each destination's advice and to look out for laws on vagrancy or public morals that may be used against 2SLGBTQI+ people. It advises assuming that local authorities can view your social media accounts, and that where 2SLGBTQI+ people are persecuted police may monitor related websites and apps. It notes that Canada recognises the X gender identifier but that this does not ensure entry or transit through other countries, and that health care institutions may not recognise your relationship, which can affect visitation and next-of-kin rights. A separate Canadian planner page, last modified on 20 May 2025, says laws and customs vary widely and that discrimination or harassment can occur even where no specific law applies.

Our selection: twelve countries that show the range

The table below is an editorial selection, not a ranking and not a list of recommendations. We chose nine countries from different regions to show the range of legal positions that the FCDO describes: countries with marriage rights, countries where same-sex activity is legal without recognition of marriage or partnerships, and countries where it is illegal or where prosecutions under other laws are reported. Rows run from the legal positions described as most recognising to those described as most restrictive, which is an ordering of legal text and not a comparison of countries or their people.

For each row we paraphrase the wording of the LGBT+ paragraph in the FCDO's Safety and security page for that country, read on 8 October 2026; each of the nine country pages is listed in the sources. The date column is the date the FCDO shows as the latest update to the whole country page, which may reflect any change and not only a change to the LGBT+ paragraph. The FCDO writes for British nationals, and other governments may word things differently, so read your own government's page for the country as well. We could not open country-level ILGA World Database entries, so the legal position in each row is the FCDO's description, not our own legal reading.

Law and daily life are not the same thing

The table shows why a single label for a whole country misleads. The FCDO describes Brazil as having no legislation against same-sex sexual activity and as generally tolerant, yet reports discrimination, violence and harassment, with urban areas usually more accepting. For Japan it reports that same-sex activity is not illegal and that some local authorities issue recognition certificates, while Japanese law does not protect against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. For Egypt it reports that same-sex activity is not explicitly criminalised but that people have been prosecuted under 'debauchery' laws. And for the United Arab Emirates it says private life is respected in many respects while same-sex activity is illegal.

Two rules of thumb follow from official guidance. First, look at the specific place: the FCDO says cities or specific areas can be more tolerant than rural ones, and Canada says laws and customs vary widely. Second, look at the specific law: rules on public conduct, online content, dress or gender expression can matter as much as rules on relationships. For solo trips more generally, see our solo travel safety page and the Japan advisory page.

Practical steps drawn from official guidance

These steps are our summary of the FCDO and Canadian pages, not legal advice. Each government points to its own consular staff for individual cases.

• Read the laws before you book. The FCDO tells travellers to research local laws and attitudes, including by area and not only by country, and Canada points to the Laws and culture tab and to vagrancy or public-morals laws.
• Check your documents. Canada says it recognises an X gender identifier but that this does not ensure entry or transit through other countries, and the FCDO says in its Egypt advice that you may be denied entry if your appearance does not match your passport details.
• Carry papers for families. Canada says families may face extra questions at borders and advises certified copies that list the custodial parents, such as birth certificates or adoption orders, plus a consent letter when a child travels without both parents.
• Think about your phone and apps. Canada says to assume local authorities can view your social media accounts and may monitor related websites and apps. The FCDO and Canada both warn that new online contacts can be set up to entrap people, so take care when meeting people you do not know.
• Plan for health needs. The FCDO suggests checking whether HIV medication, PrEP or hormone treatment may be carried into each country you visit or pass through, and whether a fresh supply can be obtained there.
• Know who to contact. Use the nearest British or Canadian embassy or consulate. Canada also lists its Emergency Watch and Response Centre and says information you share with consular staff is kept confidential.

Limits of this page

This page does not rank countries and does not say any country is welcoming or unwelcoming. We read one set of official advice per country, the FCDO's, and one 2026 edition each of the ILGA World and ILGA-Europe data. The ILGA World Database could not be opened, which is why we give no partnership or anti-discrimination counts, and we did not use the US State Department's LGBTQI+ travel page because we could not read it. Laws change, sometimes quickly, as the changes recorded between the 2025 and 2026 ILGA editions show. Always check the live official pages for your destination and your nationality before you travel. Where we link to one of our country hubs, such as Spain or Thailand, the table of our aparthotel counts below is catalogue data and says nothing about attitudes or legal position.