A list of the safest countries for LGBT travelers has been compiled

The Berlin-based publishing house Blu Media published annual safety index Spartacus Gay Travel Index. Experts evaluated 216 countries and territories based on 18 criteria, ranging from the existence of equal rights in marriage to the level of state-sponsored violence.

In Brief: What Has Changed Over the Past Year

• Iceland Back at the top of the rankings.
• Poland made a historic leap, climbing 59 spots at once.
• Russia continues to fall and ranks near the bottom of the list, alongside African dictatorships.
• Chechnya It is considered, apart from Russia, to be one of the most dangerous places on the planet.

Who's in the lead (and why there are no surprises)

First place has gone to Iceland with a maximum score of 14. Same-sex marriage has been legal there since 2010, and the rights of transgender and intersex people are protected by the constitution. Second place was shared by Malta and Spain. The group of leaders also includes Belgium, Canada, Portugal, and Germany.

Phenomenon of the Year: Poland's Surge

Poland was the biggest breakthrough of 2026, moving up from 118th to 59th place. Until recently, the country was “synonymous with anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the EU,” but the situation has changed dramatically since the change in government.

What influenced this:

• Political Changes: The formation of Donald Tusk’s coalition and the appointment of the first openly gay person to the government—Deputy Minister of Justice Krzysztof Szmieszek.
• Judicial reforms: In March 2025, the Supreme Court of Poland simplified the procedure for changing one's legal gender.
• Elimination of “zones”: All municipal resolutions regarding “LGBT-free zones” have been permanently repealed in the country.

At the same time, same-sex marriage is still banned in Poland, but experts have noted a “change in tone” and a genuine reduction in hostility on the part of the state.

Russia: “Legal Extremism”

Russia ranked 202nd place. It is in the company of Nigeria, Qatar, Turkmenistan, and South Sudan. Since 2023, the country has fallen 25 places due to its designation of the “international LGBT movement” as extremist and the expansion of the ban on “propaganda” to include all age groups.

Chechnya is listed as a separate entry in the ranking and occupies 212th place. The situation for queer people there is comparable to that in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia—experts refer to it as a zone of “state-sponsored terror.”

What's Happening in the Rest of the World

• Belarus (132nd place): Formally, the country has risen in the rankings (from 174th place), but experts call this an “improvement on paper.” In reality, 2025 saw mass roundups and threats from security forces, and activism has been completely crushed. Belarus moved up in the rankings only because other countries have fared even worse.
• Ukraine (74th place): It is in the same group as Serbia and Albania. The war has brought the rights of LGBT service members to the forefront, which is influencing the domestic agenda.
• Nepal (32nd place): The biggest gain in Asia (+21 positions) was due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the registration of same-sex marriages and new rules on self-identification.
• United States (47th place): The country is experiencing an “internal border” effect—while New York and California are expanding protections for civil rights, the climate in conservative states (Tennessee, Oklahoma) is becoming increasingly hostile.

Ranking Results: Eastern Europe remains the most diverse region in the world. The 143-rank difference between Poland and Russia proves that the level of security is not a matter of geography or culture, but a matter of the political choices made by the authorities.