29/11/2023
Top LGBTQIA newswire Pink News reports that Transgender Europe a network of trans organisations across the continents, has published its 2023 Trans Rights Map, which illustrates the legal situation in 49 countries in Europe and five in Central Asia. Countries are ranked on a colour-coded map, with 30 indicators in six legal categories: legal gender recognition, asylum, hate crime and incitement via speech, non-discrimination, health and family. The more indicators a country has, the better it is for trans people and trans rights.
Iceland tops the list, with 26 of the 30 indicators, including having legal gender recognition, laws and policy on asylum, and a hate speech law. The United Kingdom scored about midway, with fourteen out of thirty. TGEU research officer Freya Watkins said of the data, which covers the past 10 years: “The United Kingdom and Hungary have gone backwards, from progressive leaders of our index in 2013 to places where anti-trans hatred is widespread in the media and government agendas." On the positive side, the authors of the map note "The past 12 months saw an increase in trans rights in the region on the whole, building on the return to progress in 2022. However, the risk of regression and anti-trans backlash is pressing at the same time. Some countries lost points in 2023, and are in danger of further regression. Slovakia particularly stands out, as they face a de-facto ban on legal gender recognition. Even with this backlash, more countries improved protections and human rights for trans people in 2023. Among them are Spain, Moldova, Andorra, Finland, and Iceland — with Iceland overtaking Malta at the top of the rankings. "
