by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
ILGA-Europe –
the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association – has named Sweden as Europe's most pro-gay country.
The new edition of the group's "Rainbow Europe Country Index" says Sweden is the only European nation that passes all the group's tests in areas such as anti-discrimination protections, recognition of same-sex partnerships and parenting, hate-crime and hate-speech laws, and equal age-of-consent laws.
The index will not start tracking transgender issues until next year.
"Our congratulations to (Sweden) for making sure its legislation and practices are fully inclusive and respectful of human rights of LGB people," said ILGA-Europe board chair Martin K.I. Christensen. "Sadly, despite advances in many parts of Europe, we still experience human rights violations of LGB people in Europe. This year Russia and Ukraine are on the bottom on our index."
Other poorly ranked countries include Armenia, Belarus, Cyprus, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland and Turkey.
Rounding out the top five highest-ranked were Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
To view the entire report, visit http://www.tinyurl.com/ilgaeuci.
