The UK has plummeted to a new low in European rankings for LGBT+ rights, having topped the list just a decade ago.
Britain dropped six places to 22nd in 2025’s rankings – its lowest position – in The Rainbow Map and Index, which has been published annually since 2009.
The UK was ranked at the top of the list from 2011 to 2015, but has had all legal gender recognition-related points deducted following the recent Supreme Court ruling, which has defined a woman strictly by biological sex under the Equality Act.
The UK was given an overall score of 45.65 per cent in the rankings, meaning it has an above-average score for Europe, which is 41.85 per cent, but is lower than the European Union members’ average of 51.13 per cent.
The rankings give countries in Europe a score between zero and 100 per cent. A score of zero would mean the country grossly violates human rights for LGBT+ people, while 100 per cent means it champions them.
Malta topped the 2025 list with a score of 89 per cent, followed by Belgium in second with 89 per cent, Iceland with 84 per cent, Denmark with 80 per cent and Spain with 78 per cent.
ILGA Europe, the advocacy group that publishes the rankings, said it had removed all legal gender recognition-related points from the UK’s score in 2025, as the ruling had meant “legal gender recognition is no longer fully effective”.
“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,” it said.
“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.”
Britain also lost points for not yet having a ban on conversion therapy, and limited options for healthcare for young trans people.
The UK also scored low on issues such as rights for intersex people and the draft government guidance advising teachers in England not to teach schoolchildren about gender identity, and proposing a ban on sex education for children under nine.
A low score of 16.67 per cent was also given for the UK’s record over LGBT+ asylum seekers, with such refugees often facing homelessness and abuse.
LGBT+ rights group Stonewall said the rankings should be a “wake-up call” for the government as it “undermines our position on the global stage”.
“No country can afford to be on autopilot during these turbulent times,” a spokesperson said.
“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.”
The Good Law Project’s executive director, Jo Maugham, said the sharp fall in the UK’s ranking came as little surprise.
“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 did score highly in some categories, such as family and civil society space.
The country was given a score of 85.67 per cent for LGBT+ families, with the Marriage Act 2013 being cited as a reason.
Civil society space was given 100 per cent, as the UK was deemed to have laws, policies and practices in place which allow for full exercise of freedom of assembly, association and expression for LGBT+ people.
Equality and non-discrimination were given an average score of 49.13 per cent, while hate crime and hate speech were given a score of 40.55 per cent.
The UK was joined by Hungary and Georgia in seeing big drops in its annual rankings.
Hungary has seen the prohibition of Pride events and criminalisation of participants, and both Georgia and Hungary have removed references to “gender identity and expression” from their legislation.
Despite slipping down the ranks, the UK is still far above those at the bottom of the list.
Russia came in last with a score of just 2 per cent, followed marginally by Azerbaijan at 2.25 per cent and Turkey at 4.75 per cent.
In 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlawed any LGBT+ activism in a ruling that designated “the international LGBT movement” as extremist.
A UK government spokesperson said: “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.”
A spokesperson for the EHRC told The Independent: “At the EHRC we uphold and enforce the Equality Act. Our response to the Supreme Court’s judgment has been, and will continue to be, firmly grounded in the law. Those who rely on us are reassured that every explanation of equality law from the EHRC will be accurate and authoritative. That is our job, as Britain’s independent and expert equality regulator.
“We know there is uncertainty among duty-bearers and affected groups. The EHRC has been visible in providing clarity on the consequences of the judgment and will continue to be so.”
