EUROPE: Scotland Tops List Of Gay-Friendly Nations

From the Herald Scotland:

Scotland would be rated as the most gay-friendly and tolerant nation in Europe if it was separate from the rest of the UK, new research has found.

A survey measuring equality and human rights found that Scotland would top a European league table after meeting 90 per cent of the criteria laid down by campaigning group ILGA-Europe.

The Rainbow Index, which is compiled each year, placed the UK as a whole third on 81 per cent, mostly because of Northern Ireland’s refusal to adopt same sex marriage laws.

However, the report also found that more needed to be done to achieve full equality, such as better legislation to protect the rights of intersex people.

The index measures the impact of laws and policies on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people over six categories: equality and non-discrimination, family, bias motivated speech or violence, legal gender recognition, freedom of assembly, association and expression, and asylum.

While Scotland has a 90% score, the highest-scoring independent nation remains Malta at 88%. Malta has not yet legalized same-sex marriage, but their 2014 civil unions law conveys all rights except the name.