PlanetRomeo, one of the world’s largest dating networks for gay/bisexual and transgender people have announced that their groundbreaking Gay Happiness Index (GHI) will be launched May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHOT). Contrary to what the index name implies, the situation is anything but happy.
It is a known fact that 1/3 of all countries in the world still view homosexuality as a crime, and in seven countries it is punishable by death. Additionally, the Gay Happiness Index provides much more information. For the first time insight is given into gay living situations, how gay men feel and how they are treated, comparable on a country level.
The GHI is the result of a worldwide survey in which 115,000 gay men from 127 countries were questioned. The survey was conducted in cooperation with the University of Mainz, Germany. Jens Schmidt, CEO/Founder of PlanetRomeo says, “Until now it was just not possible to ask gay men directly about their personal lives, on a global scale. The spreading of the Internet, and the reach of gay dating platforms like ours, allows us to change this.”
Gay men are a minority everywhere. Assuming 2,5% of all people are gay men, then there are at least 175 million of them on the planet. When applying the survey results to the entire world population, the estimated outcome is shocking:
- 4 million gay men were victim of serious physical violence in 2014
- 13 million were banned from their family home
- 41 million want to escape their home country
- 66 million are not out to their parents
PlanetRomeo sets a precedent by making the detailed results, on a country level, available as open source and downloadable for free (ghi.planetromeo.com). The plan is to repeat the survey in the future. “We hope that the data are helpful for everyone who takes part in the fight for human rights for LGBT people worldwide,” says Marc van Zijp, GHI Project Manager.
