Released every May since 2009, the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map ranks the legal and policy situation for LGBTI people in all 49 European countries, on a scale between 0% (gross violations of human rights, discrimination) and 100% (respect of human rights, full equality).  

This year there was much movement on the map, with Malta holding the top spot and several countries entering the top ten. All of this has been reported across the world, but what truths lie behind the Rainbow Map rankings? Malta has been number one for eight years now, but is it a utopia for LGBTI people, or are there issues in the country that might be pinkwashed by its Rainbow ranking? Are small movements up the chart really representative of what’s happening on the ground for LGBTI people? And what’s happening in the countries that used to be at the top but are now lagging very much behind? 

In this episode of The Frontline, exploring the complexities behind the rankings in the annual Rainbow Map, we are joined by guests Robert Attard from the Malta Gay Rights Movement, Simona Mursec from Ljubljana Pride Association in Slovenia and Sophie Schers from Transgender Network in The Netherlands. We’re also joined by Mehmet Akin from the ILGA Europe team, who oversees the collection of data and rankings on the Rainbow Map and Index, and our Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel, to talk about what we see happening now and in the future.  

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