The UK has fallen to its lowest ever ranking on the European Rainbow Index of LGBTQ+ equality laws, which ranks European countries by their laws on LGBTQ+ equality. The UK, languishing in 22nd place, is now the second worst country for overall LGBTQ+ laws in all of western Europe and Scandinavia, wi
The UK has fallen to its lowest ever ranking on the European Rainbow Index of LGBTQ+ equality laws, which ranks European countries by their laws on LGBTQ+ equality. The UK, languishing in 22nd place, is now the second worst country for overall LGBTQ+ laws in all of western Europe and Scandinavia, with only Italy ranked lower.
The UK was in first place in 2015 but has slipped down the index every year since. According to figures, this year the UK fell seven places because of the recent Supreme Court judgment and the UK Government’s response, overturning two decades of recognition for trans people’s identities.
The index is compiled annually by the European LGBTQ+ network ILGA-Europe, by analysing the laws in 49 European countries.
For laws that relate to the recognition of trans people’s gender identity, the UK is now ranked 45th out of 49 countries, after the Supreme Court ruling. ILGA-Europe considers that the Court’s ruling constitutes a legal block on effective recognition of trans people’s identities, the only other European countries with such a legal block being Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary and Russia.
The UK’s overall score on the Rainbow Index is 46%. The top five countries are Malta 89%, Belgium 85%, Iceland 84%, Denmark 80% and Spain 78%.
The other countries that now rank higher than the UK are: Finland 70%, Greece, Germany and Norway 69%, Luxembourg 68%, Portugal 67%, Sweden 66%, Netherlands 64%, Ireland 63%, France 61%, Austria 54%, Slovenia and Switzerland 50%, Montenegro and Croatia 49%, and Estonia 46%.
ILGA-Europe do note that hate crime law in Scotland was improved when the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into effect last year. Since this only applies in Scotland, it has minimal effect on the UK’s overall index score.
Vic Valentine, Manager of Scottish Trans, said: “That the UK has slipped so far down the rankings for LGBTQ+ equality in Europe is an important reminder that we can’t take progress for granted. From the outside, the UK is viewed as a cautionary tale of how things can go backwards rather than forwards. But none of this is inevitable – governments and parliaments can and should be forces to protect and promote the rights of everyone.
“Yet politicians across the UK are quietly watching on as the Supreme Court ruling seems to have set back trans people’s rights by two decades. It is very much in their power to put us back on the right path. We call on the UK Government to urgently take whatever action is needed to ensure that trans people can live safely and freely and reverse this decade of decline in the rights of LGBTQ+ people.”
Chaber, ILGA-Europe’s Executive Director, said: “The time to push back is now, before the targeted attacks we’re seeing in countries like Hungary, the UK and Georgia become the norm rather than the exception. Political leaders must lead by example and turn their words into action.”
TGEU, the European trans rights network, added: “Previously a frontrunner on equality, the UK now has a Supreme Court, Prime Minister, and equality body singing from the same hymn sheet as anti-trans campaigners. The UK Supreme Court’s decision, which defined a ‘woman’ for the anti-discrimination law, has severely undermined legal certainty for trans people. Furthermore, it has reinforced privacy risks and exclusion from essential services such as hospital wards, public toilets, changing rooms, and refuges, as well as reception centres for asylum seekers.”
