UK’s Standing on LGBT+ Rights hits its lowest rank ever in 2025

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The United Kingdom has experienced a significant drop in its standing on LGBT+ rights in Europe, hitting its lowest rank ever in 2025, according to the Rainbow Map and Index released annually by advocacy group ILGA-Europe. Once a consistent leader in equality for LGBT+ people, the UK has now fallen six places to 22nd out of 49 countries, a stark contrast to its former top-ranking status between 2011 and 2015.

 

The plunge in the rankings follows a recent Supreme Court ruling that defined a woman strictly by biological sex under the Equality Act. As a result, ILGA-Europe deducted all points previously awarded to the UK for legal gender recognition, stating that such recognition “is no longer fully effective.”

 

The group explained, “Legal gender recognition should enable a person to legally function and be recognised in their affirmed gender in all areas of life; this is no longer the case in the UK. The ruling, along with interim guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), means that individuals with a gender recognition certificate are not fully recognised as their affirmed gender in important legal contexts. It is, in fact, impossible for a trans person to be fully legally recognised in their gender identity within the legal framework created by the judgment and interim update.”

 

The UK’s overall score now stands at 45.65 per cent, above the European average of 41.85 per cent but below the EU member average of 51.13 per cent. Malta leads the 2025 rankings with an impressive 89 per cent, closely followed by Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, and Spain. At the other end of the spectrum, Russia came in last with just 2 per cent, followed by Azerbaijan at 2.25 per cent and Turkey at 4.75 per cent.

 

Beyond legal gender recognition, the UK received low marks in several other categories. These include rights for intersex individuals, government guidance advising schools in England against teaching gender identity, and a proposed ban on sex education for children under the age of nine. The country also scored poorly—just 16.67 per cent—for its treatment of LGBT+ asylum seekers, who often face homelessness, abuse, and other hardships upon arrival.

 

Stonewall, a leading LGBT+ rights organisation, described the report as a “wake-up call” for the UK government. “The UK has reached an all-time low position of 22 out of 49. Warm words and empty promises from the government won't restore the UK’s global reputation on LGBTQ+ rights. Action will,” a spokesperson said.

 

Jo Maugham, executive director of the Good Law Project, echoed these concerns and pointed to the broader implications. “Only ten years ago, we were the best in the world in the annual LGBTI Rights Ranking,” he said. “We’re now 22nd and making all the wrong headlines, alongside Hungary and Georgia, for the biggest decline in protections. This is not just an embarrassment abroad – it’s also a tragedy at home for tens of thousands of people struggling to live lives of quiet dignity.”

 

The UK’s dramatic fall in the rankings mirrors similar declines in Hungary and Georgia. Both countries have removed references to “gender identity and expression” from their legislation. Hungary has additionally moved to criminalise participants in Pride events, while Georgia has taken steps to restrict similar expressions of identity.

 

Despite the sharp criticism and declining scores, a UK government spokesperson defended the country's record. “The UK has long championed the rights of LGBT+ people at home and abroad. We proudly uphold a clear and robust expansive legislative framework. We are working to advance the rights afforded to LGBT+ people, including bringing forward legislation to finally ban conversion practices and strengthening protections against hate crime.”

 

Nonetheless, critics argue that such statements are no substitute for meaningful policy changes, warning that without urgent reforms, the UK risks continuing its downward trajectory on the international stage when it comes to equality and human rights.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Independent  2025-05-20

 

 

[wombat]

[Watawattana]

3 minutes ago, wombat said:

Yeah, that's why the UK's standing has dropped in this index.  Those pesky hackers who targeted the M&S supply chain has interrupted the supply of these sandwiches, and they are slow to recover.

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/ms-slow-recovery-cyberattack-puts-it-risk-lasting-damage-2025-05-19/

[Dionigi]

defining sex has nothing to do with perceived genders. nobody is trying to stop people who perceive their gender to be different from their sex from having rights, but those rights do not give them the right to compete against people of the opposite sex or to use bathrooms used by the opposite sex. their gender is in their head not in mine.

[FlorC]

Let's see the ranking after the moslim take over of the UK.

[jippytum]

Welcome news.  Those  sports cheats are not receivlng the support they had from the woke mainstream media.  long may it continue.