France plummets in LGBT-friendliness rankings after homophobic attacks
The spike in attacks on homosexuals in France over the past year has led to the country dropping a whopping 11 places in just a year in an annual gay travel index.
The Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2019 puts France in 17th place, down from sixth place a year ago.
Canada, Portugal, and Sweden are the friendliest countries for LGBT travellers and they took joint first place in the latest edition of the guide.
Thirteen countries, most of them in Europe, tied for fourth place.
The reasons for France's dramatic fall were a rise in homophobic attacks and the postponement of parliamentary debates on bioethics laws, notably on assisted procreation, which is currently limited in France to heterosexual couples.
READ ALSO: Paris left shocked by another homophobic attack
The Spartacus index ranked 197 countries based on 14 criteria, including anti-discrimination laws, marriage and civil partnership laws, adoption laws, transgender rights and persecution.
The United States dropped from 39th place to 47th.
Chechnya was ranked last of the 197 countries listed by the Berlin-based Spartacus guide, which provides tips for gay travellers on its website and mobile app.
Last autumn in particular saw a spike homophobic attacks in just a few weeks in the French capital.
The assaults gained a lot of media coverage in France partly because some of the victims decided to share their experience with a photograph of their injuries on social media.
On October 6th, a homophobic assault took place in the capital's 19th arrondissement when two men were violently attacked by two people because they were kissing, with each suffering injuries to the ribs and face.
Then on October 8th, two young women were beaten up in public for the same reason and on October 13th a man was attacked in the 15th arrondissement for wearing make-up.
Je pensais jamais que je ferais un tweet comme celui là mais ça n’arrive pas qu’aux autres: j’ai été victime d’une agression homophobe hier soir dans le 15e arrondissement de Paris parce que je portais du make-up ? pic.twitter.com/FKZCt3SejV
— adil ☄️ (@lostoverr) October 14, 2018
Paris police however said at the time that since the beginning of 2018 there had actually been a decrease in homophobic attacks compared to the same period the year before.
But gay rights groups advised caution when looking at the official figures.
"We must be careful with the figures because a number of victims of homophobic acts do not go to the police," said the president of gay rights charity SOS Homophobie Joel Deumier.
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See Also
The Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2019 puts France in 17th place, down from sixth place a year ago.
Canada, Portugal, and Sweden are the friendliest countries for LGBT travellers and they took joint first place in the latest edition of the guide.
Thirteen countries, most of them in Europe, tied for fourth place.
The reasons for France's dramatic fall were a rise in homophobic attacks and the postponement of parliamentary debates on bioethics laws, notably on assisted procreation, which is currently limited in France to heterosexual couples.
READ ALSO: Paris left shocked by another homophobic attack
The Spartacus index ranked 197 countries based on 14 criteria, including anti-discrimination laws, marriage and civil partnership laws, adoption laws, transgender rights and persecution.
The United States dropped from 39th place to 47th.
Chechnya was ranked last of the 197 countries listed by the Berlin-based Spartacus guide, which provides tips for gay travellers on its website and mobile app.
Je pensais jamais que je ferais un tweet comme celui là mais ça n’arrive pas qu’aux autres: j’ai été victime d’une agression homophobe hier soir dans le 15e arrondissement de Paris parce que je portais du make-up ? pic.twitter.com/FKZCt3SejV
— adil ☄️ (@lostoverr) October 14, 2018
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