Are you thinking about taking a year away to explore a new place?
BY BETHIA WYBORN, IMAGE BY GETTY
As September rolls around and university students start to pack up their belongings to begin another year of learning the question of spending a year abroad may appeal to many young students.
But being LGBTQIA in a new country can come with questions about safety and acceptance.
Not only is it important to be in an environment where it is legal to express who you are, but it is also important to be in an environment where you can identify as your true self in comfort.
Here is a list of ten countries that have been highly rated for their acceptance of queer travellers.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands has been globally recognized as a country at the forefront of LGBTQIA rights since it was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2000.
Not only is it legal to express your identity in the Netherlands, but the country is renowned for being a progressive place with a culture where anybody can be who they want to be, wherever they are.
Each pride month, Amsterdam’s canals are filled with a colourful parade of boats to celebrate the LGBTQIA community and its allies. There are also street parties, art and culture events, and marches.
Canada
In 2005, Canada was the first country outside Europe to legalise same-sex marriage and has since then achieved a high quality of life for LGBTQIA people.
As well as being a safe environment for queer people, Canada has further legal protections to support gender identity rights and sexual orientation rights in the Canadian Human Rights Act which was amended in 2017.
There’s an abundance of events which encourage queer folk to be proud of their identity, such as Toronto Pride which had an estimated three million attendees or Capital Pride Festival in Ottawa which is jam-packed with inclusive events.
Portugal
Portugal (along with Canada and Sweden) was voted as the world’s most gay-friendly travel location by the SPARTACUS International Gay Guide Index in 2019.
The country also champions rights for genderqueer and transgender people, as one of six countries in Europe to allow official gender changes without medical interventions.
Although according to the LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index, it is only sixth in the world for offering the best place for queer people to live. Many travel blogs have suggested this is due to prejudices by older generations in rural sectors of the country compared to the bigger cities such as Lisbon and Porto where LGBTQIA life is more concentrated and celebrated.
Sweden
The Nordic country is renowned for being progressive and liberal with Sweden being the first to legalize gender change in 1972 and ranking second on the LGBTQ+ Safety Index.
Sweden is also home to the world’s most popular pride events, such as Stockholm Pride, which is the largest pride event in the Nordic region, and West Pride in Gothenburg.
Malta
Malta, which ranked fourth in the LGBTQ+ Safety Index, is gathering attention from LGBTQIA students across the globe as a hotspot for study since it is one out of only five countries in the world to have constitutional levels of protection for LGBTQIA individuals.
A common notion about Malta is that the country is such a queer-friendly place that there is no need for LGBTQIA-exclusive safe places. However, Valletta, a small town of less than 6,000 inhabitants, is recognized as a gay-borhood that queer tourists and locals alike recommend during a visit.
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