Some of the 48 World Cup countries are very gay-friendly, with robust laws and protections, while some are in-between. And nearly a third are downright hostile, with LGBTQ protections nonexistent and punishment for same-sex behavior a prison sentence or worse.
The website Equaldex is a valuable resource for a country-by-country look at the state of LGBTQ equality.
It uses a 100-point scale to rank countries on the laws surrounding whether homosexuality is legal, and laws on same-sex marriage, censorship, changing gender, gender-affirming care, employment and housing discrimination, adoption, serving in the military and conversion therapy. It also parses public opinion on LGBTQ issues.
Using the site’s 100-point scale, World Cup countries Norway, Uruguay, Spain and New Zealand all rank in the top six in the world. Iceland (1st) and Denmark (5th) did not qualify.
At the opposite end, Iran (ranked 191) and Senegal (192) are among the seven least LGBTQ-accepting countries in the world. Overall, there isn’t much difference in countries ranked 10-20 points from each other.
Check the website here.
Equaldex map
