2026 Rainbow Map delivers mixed picture on LGBTQ+ rights

After ten years in the lead, Malta has been overtaken by Spain at the top of ILGA Europe's annual Rainbow Map. The ranking, compiled by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), compares laws and policies affecting LGBTQ+ people in 49 countries across Europe and Central Asia.

Katrin Hugendubel, Deputy Director of ILGA Europe, told DW Spain's rise shows what is possible when governments make a deliberate choice to advance equality rather than retreat from it.

Why Spain moved up European LGBTQ+ rankings

Spain's rise reflects a series of measures taken under the left wing government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. These include new equality laws, national action plans, an independent equal treatment authority and the depathologization of trans identities in healthcare.

According to Hugendubel, this progress is particularly significant because it happened despite pressure from far right and conservative forces. The Spanish government, she said, has continued to defend its reforms against attempts to roll them back.

Spain is followed in the ranking by Malta, Iceland, Belgium and Denmark. ILGA Europe's map shows these countries have strong legal protections for LGBTQ+ people. There has also been progress further down the ranking. Czechia and Sweden, for example, made it easier for people to legally change their gender.

LGBTQ+ rights rollback in some European nations

At the bottom of the list are Armenia, Belarus, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia. Romania remains the lowest ranked EU country, in 42nd place out of 49.

Countries at the bottom score poorly for different reasons. Turkey continues to ban Pride events and uses its penal code to put queer activists under pressure. Belarus has adopted an anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law similar to Russia's. Slovakia has made it impossible for trans people to legally change their gender.

Hugendubel told DW trans rights have become one of the main battlegrounds in this year's map. She said anti-trans narratives spread easily because public knowledge remains low and fear can be used to divide societies. 

Remy Bonny, the head of Forbidden Colours, a Brussels based LGBTQ+ advocacy group, is more cautious about the positive shifts in the ranking.

"Over the last years, there has been a backlash on LGBTQ+ rights everywhere in Europe," he told DW.

Far-right parties as a threat

Bonny warns that even countries making progress remain vulnerable. He points to Spain, where the far right party Vox and the conservative Partido Popular have gained ground in recent years, while Sanchez's government remains politically fragile. If these parties come to power, Bonny believes they could try to reverse key LGBTQ+ protections. And Spain is only one example, in many countries across Europe far-right parties have been on the rise.

According to Bonny, the threat is not only coming from within Europe. He says the political climate has changed since the Trump administration returned to power, especially after the dismantling of USAID programs that had funded LGBTQ+ rights work in parts of Eastern Europe. Anti-LGBTQ+ narratives, he argues, are increasingly being supported by state actors.

Hugendubel also stresses that the Rainbow Map has limits. It measures laws and policies, not the daily reality of LGBTQ+ people. Despite ranking first, Spanish LGBTQ+ organizations report assaults against queer people in the country are up by 15% since 2024, driven by a climate of hate speech that emboldens violence against vulnerable groups.

Both Hugendubel and Bonny see a clear link between minority rights and the health of Europe's liberal democracies.

Minority groups as the first target

Bonny points to Hungary under Viktor Orban as an example. He argues LGBTQ+ people were used as scapegoats while the government also restricted freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the independence of democratic institutions.

"They start with one minority group, then they take the rights of everyone," he said.

Bonny wants the European Commission to take stronger action when member states ignore court rulings or roll back LGBTQ+ protections. He argues the body has the tools to launch infringement procedures, but is often hesitant because the issue has become too politically sensitive.

He also says the shift to the right in the European Parliament is being felt in Brussels. According to Bonny, progressive parties should be more willing to confront the European People's Party if it cooperates with the far right or blocks action on LGBTQ+ rights.

A test for liberal democracies

Hugendubel asks whether countries that have not yet chosen a clear direction will give in to far-right pressure. She includes Germany among the countries where future progress is uncertain.

For both analysts, the stakes go beyond the ranking. The question is whether governments are willing to protect minority rights not only on paper, but also in daily life. For them, that is one of the clearest tests of what a liberal democracy should stand for.

Edited by Cai Nebe

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