2025 Rainbow Map highlights challenges and progress in LGBTQ+ rights across Europe
July 22, 2025The 2025 edition of the Rainbow Map, published by ILGA-Europe, provides the latest comprehensive ranking of 49 European countries based on their legal and policy practices concerning LGBTQ+ rights. This annual assessment highlights both advancements and setbacks in the ongoing struggle for equality and human rights across the continent.
Key Findings and Rankings
Malta continues its decade-long dominance at the top of the ranking with a score of 85%, demonstrating a strong commitment to protecting LGBTQ+ rights through comprehensive legislation. Belgium, with a significant policy overhaul addressing hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics, has notably climbed to second place with high scores. Iceland closely follows in third position with a score of 84, reflecting consistent efforts to promote equality.
Conversely, several countries face alarming setbacks. The UK has experienced a six-place decline, attributed to policy and legal rollbacks affecting LGBTQ+ protections. Hungary and Georgia have also registered steep declines, with the report citing recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as key factors. The data underscores a troubling trend: these rollbacks are part of a broader pattern of democratic erosion, with fundamental human rights under threat in many parts of Europe.
At the lower end of the scale, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey occupy the last positions with just 2-5% scores, denoting minimal legal protections. Within the EU, Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria rank at the bottom with scores around 19-21%, indicating limited legal safeguards for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Critical Issues and Gaps
Despite some progress, numerous challenges persist:
- Conversion Practices: Only 10 countries have explicitly banned conversion therapy practices, leaving many jurisdictions without protections.
- Legal Protections: Six countries—Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia, and Spain—offer full anti-discrimination coverage based on SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression). However, six countries lack any protections against discrimination.
- Hate Crime Legislation: Prohibitions on hate crimes and hate speech related to LGBTQ+ identities are limited, primarily found in Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Malta, and some regions of the UK.
- Marriage and Partnership Rights: Only 22 countries recognize marriage equality for same-sex couples. Eighteen countries lack any legal recognition of same-sex partnerships.
- Trans Rights: Full legal recognition for trans parents exists in just eight countries. Legal gender recognition based on self-determination is available in only 12 countries, while Bulgaria, Hungary, and Russia have laws obstructing legal gender changes altogether.
- Medical and Intersex Rights: Only Germany, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Portugal, and Spain prohibit unnecessary medical interventions on intersex children, reflecting improved protections for intersex individuals.
Restrictions on Rights and Asylum Protections
The report also highlights restrictions on freedom of assembly and association for LGBTQ+ communities in at least 14 countries, indicating ongoing resistance and repression. Additionally, legal pathways for asylum based on sexual orientation and gender identity exist in 27 countries, but protections specifically for intersex asylum seekers are limited to six nations.
The 2025 Rainbow Map paints a complex picture: while certain countries continue to advance protections and equality, a significant number of nations are experiencing setbacks—often in the guise of defending traditional values or public stability. Katrin Hugendubel, ILGA-Europe’s Advocacy Director, emphasizes that these regressions represent a coordinated global backlash aimed at erasing LGBTQ+ rights, often masking discrimination under the rhetoric of tradition or societal harmony.