ILGA-Europe

ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

What is ILGA-Europe

ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. It is an umbrella organisation of more than seven hundred LGBTI organisations from 54 countries.

Rainbow Map

Every year, ILGA-Europe publishes the Rainbow Map, which ranks countries based on legislation and policy concerning LGBTI rights. Categories include equal treatment, family law, hate crime, legal recognition and asylum.

Lobbying and monitoring

ILGA-Europe lobbies the European Union and the Council of Europe and scrutinises national policies. The organisation also publishes country reports and joint statements with other human rights organisations.

Organisation and funding

ILGA-Europe has existed since 1996, when the global umbrella organisation ILGA established separate regions. Its office is in Brussels. On its own website, the organisation describes itself as an independent international umbrella organisation of more than seven hundred organisations from 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia. Since 2001, ILGA-Europe has received core funding from the European Union. It has also received funding from, among others, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Open Society Institute and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The organisation therefore lobbies institutions that also fund it.

What the Rainbow Map measures

The 2025 edition assesses 49 countries against 76 criteria in seven categories, including legal gender recognition, the bodily integrity of intersex people and space for civil society organisations. Malta ranks first, followed by Belgium, Iceland, Denmark and Spain. Russia ranks last. The United Kingdom, which was still number one in 2015, fell to 22nd place following a ruling by the UK Supreme Court. The map measures laws and policies, not people’s everyday experiences. Researchers Francesca Romana Ammaturo and Koen Slootmaeckers argue that the map therefore presents a picture of linear progress that does not always reflect how LGBTI people live in a country. A high score mainly means that a country has the legislation ILGA-Europe advocates.

Position on care for minors

On 18 December 2024, ILGA-Europe, together with TGEU, IGLYO, the European network of IPPF and The Kite Trust, published a statement opposing the UK decision to ban the prescription of puberty blockers to transgender young people indefinitely. According to the signatories, puberty blockers are a reversible and widely used treatment and the decision runs counter to the medical consensus. They refer to WPATH in this context. However, the reviews conducted as part of the Cass Review assessed WPATH’s guidelines as methodologically weak. See also TGEU, the Cass Review and EU policy.

Frequently asked questions