February 28, 2019 – According to the Spartacus Gay Travel Index for 2019, Croatia is as gay-friendly as the USA!
The German-based Spartacus Gay Travel Index ranks the most LGBT-friendly travel destinations in the world each year. The Index is based on 14 criteria in three categories, from civil rights to discrimination and threats.
“The first category consists of civil rights. Among other things, it assesses whether gays and lesbians are allowed to marry, whether anti-discrimination laws exist or whether the age of consent is the same for heterosexual and homosexual couples. Discrimination is included in the second category. These include, for example, travel restrictions for HIV-positive persons and the prohibition of Pride parades and other demonstrations. The third category includes threats to the person through persecution, imprisonment or death penalty,” reads the Spartacus blog.
The Index sourced information from the Human Rights Watch, the UN Free & Equal campaign, and information about human rights abuses against members of the LGBT community collected throughout the past year, Spartacus added.
Interestingly, Croatia ranked 47th in the index, in the same company of countries including Bermuda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Macao, Seychelles, Thailand, and the United States of America.
Here’s how it works
Countries allocated points if they have anti-discrimination legislation, same-sex marriage or civil partnerships, adoption and transgender rights and an equal age of consent. On the other hand, countries lost points if religious influence plays a part, if there are HIV Travel Restrictions or anti-gay laws, if homosexuality is illegal, if Gay Pride is banned, if the locals are hostile to the gay population, or if there are prosecutions, murders, or death sentences for gays.
Namely, Croatia collected a total of 2 points. You can see the breakdown of points below:
Anti-discrimination legislation: 2
Marriage/Civil partnership: 1
Adoption Allowed: 0
Transgender rights: 1
Equal age of consent: 1
Religious influence: -1
HIV Travel Restrictions: 0
Anti-Gay Laws: -1
Homosexuality illegal: 0
Pride banned: 0
Locals hostile: -1
Prosecution: 0
Murders: 0
Death sentences: 0
The most LGBT-friendly travel destinations in the world are Canada, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Luxemburg, and Malta. The least-friendly LGBT travel destinations in the world ranked as Chechnya, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Afghanistan, Qatar, and Malawi.
You can see the entire Index here.
To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
