Azerbaijan is emerging Europe’s least safe country for LGBTQ+ community

Azerbaijan is the least safe country for the LGBTQ+ community in emerging Europe, the latest edition of the LGBTQ+ Danger Index has found.

According to the research, Azerbaijan was ranked the 58th least safe country globally and the only country from the region that received the lowest ranking, F. Armenia is the second least safe country in the region, ranked 59th globally, with Belarus the third least safe. Both Armenia and Belarus received a D- ranking.

These are followed by North Macedonia (ranked 77th globally), Latvia (ranked 82nd), Lithuania (ranked 87th) and Poland (ranked 88th) which received a D. The study notes that “activities and publications against ‘established family values’ [in Lithuania] are penalised, though homosexuality has been decriminalised.”

Bulgaria (99th globally), Bosnia and Herzegovina (100th), Georgia (102nd), Romania (103rd), Montenegro (104th) were offered a C- ranking, noting that Bulgaria recognises same-sex marriages which take abroad.

Albania (111st globally), Estonia (114th), the Czech Republic (115th), Croatia (116th), Serbia (117th) and Slovakia (120th) received a C ranking.

Hungary (122nd) and Slovenia (129th) were ranked as the most safe countries from the region for LGBTQ+ people.

The LGBTQ+ Danger Index measures 150 countries, examining a number of factors including same-sex marriages, workers protection for sexual minorities, protections against discrimination, adoption recognition and levels of violence.