Russia ranks near last in ILGA’s annual Rainbow Map

May 10, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe) released its 2015 Rainbow Map, an annual review of the human rights situation of LGBT people in Europe and brand new Rainbow Europe web module. Launched in Montenegro, at the 2015 European International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) Forum, the Rainbow Europe package highlighted the complexity of the current situation for LGBTI people in Europe. Russia ranked #48, with Ukraine at #46, Armenia at #47 and Azerbaijan at the very bottom of the ranking.

“We witnessed several countries making historic strides, while others have stalled in terms of their equality development,” commented Paulo Côrte-Real, co-chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board. “The vital ingredient, present in so many of the countries who have climbed in our Rainbow Map rankings, was unshakable leadership from political figures and activist leaders, often in challenging contexts.”

The rankings are based on how the laws and policies of each country impact on the lives of LGBTI people. The ranking records a country’s legal standards for comparison with its European neighbors but the numbers only provide one part of the story. The Annual Review gives a more nuanced, detailed overview of every country’s progress over the last twelve months and has a chapter dedicated to each country as well as developments at the international level.

ILGA-Europe tracks each country using a wide range of indicators; covering everything from equality, family issues and hate speech to legal gender recognition, freedom of expression and asylum rights. These benchmarking measures were first used by ILGA-Europe in 2009 and have been expanded upon ever since. The color assigned to each country gives an indication of where the countries are positioned on a scale between 0% (gross violations of human rights, discrimination) and 100% (respect of human rights, full equality).

With Russia ranked  No. 48 nearly at the bottom with an 8.36% score, the ILGA-Europe Annual Review chapter on Russia points out that the federal ‘anti-propaganda’ law, adopted in 2013, cemented the rejection of LGBTI people into law and strengthened opposition to them in political, cultural, religious and educational settings. Legal hurdles multiplied and the activities of journalists, educators, artists, and activists came under increased scrutiny, frequently leading to fines. The law effectively outlawed any neutral or positive mention of same-sex relationships in the arts, media, public space or educational resources. The space granted to civil society continued to shrink; while three successful rallies in support of LGBTI equality were reported, many more were either not authorized, or forcibly disbanded.

A cultural festival in St Petersburg faced systematic closure attempts from the police and two LGBTI NGOs chose to close down instead of registering as ‘foreign agents’, while activists continued their work. Meanwhile, verbal and physical violence against LGBTI people remained frequent.

Virtually no mainstream political figures defended the rights of LGBTI people.

The full Annual Review 2015 is available here.