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Revealed: These are the most LGBTQ+ accepting cities in the world

Reykjavik has officially been crowned the most accepting city in the world – being the only city to score 10/10 for LGBTQ+ acceptance.

A new study by Money.co.uk has revealed the most accepting cities in the world for the LGBTQ+ community.  ​​ With 4% of Gen Z identifying as other than male or female and the number of people in the UK identifying as heterosexual decreasing to 93.7%, growing recognition for more fluid genders and sexual identities have never been more prevalent. Therefore, we thought it was important to highlight the most welcoming and accepting cities for the LGBTQ+ community.

To determine which cities and states were the most accepting we analysed the following: 

City Data: 

  • LGBTQ+ acceptance level (an indicator sourced from Social Progress)
  • Number of dedicated LGBTQ+ establishments per 100,000 people
  • Average rating of these establishments

State Data:

  • How easy it is to change the gender marker on your birth certificate and driver's license 
  • The level of state support for the LGBTQ+ adults wanting to start a family 
  • Work safety 
  • Percentage of adults over 18 who identify as LGBTQ+
  • Percentage of LGBTQ+ adults aged over 25 raising children 

Here are the results…

Reykjavik is crowned the MOST accepting city in the world
Reykjavik has officially been crowned the most accepting city in the world – being the only city to score 10/10 for LGBTQ+ acceptance. Not only will this city make you feel welcome, but it also has the most LGBTQ+ dedicated bars and clubs out of the top cities, with 2.5 establishments per 100,000 people. These bars and clubs also have a high average rating of 4.0 on TripAdvisor, so you know you’re gonna have a great time!

Following closely behind is  Amsterdam and Rotterdam taking silver and bronze positions. Amsterdam has the highest rating of LGBTQ+ establishments averaging 5 stars whilst Rotterdam has the third-highest number of establishments (1.4 per 100,000 people). Both of these cities also have a high LGBTQ+ acceptance score of 9.8/10. 

The UK is home to 20% of the top accepting cities for the LGBTQ+ community
Out of the top 20 cities, four of the most accepting cities are based in the UK. Edinburgh is crowned the 7th most accepting city in the world with an LGBTQ+ acceptance score of 8.01/10. This city came in 8th place for the number of LGBTQ+ establishments per 100,000 people and has the third-best rating with 4.3 stars.

However, out of all of our UK cities, Cardiff has highest for the number of dedicated LGBTQ+ establishments with 0.8 per 100,000 people –  helping it to rank 8th place overall. Glasgow follows closely behind ranking 9th whilst London takes 18th place, just making it into the top 20. 

USA cities make up 25% of the most accepting cities in the world
Out of our top 20 most accepting cities, five are based in the USA. The Golden City, San Francisco, just missed out on a podium position placing in a very respectable 4th. This city has the second-highest number of LGBTQ+ establishments per 100,000 people and has an average rating of 4.2 stars.

Boston ranked 11th whilst Seattle ranked 12th having the fourth-highest number of establishments per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, Los Angeles placed 16th and Chicago 17th – both having a high LGBTQ+ acceptance score of 8.21 out of 10. 

Hawaii has been crowned the MOST accepting state in the USA
To rank the most accepting states in the USA, we looked at five different factors. The difficulty of changing the gender marker on your birth certificate and driving licence, rate of state support for LGBTQ+ adults who have started or wish to start a family, safety at work, the percentage of adults who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and the percentage of LGBTQ+ adults raising children.

According to the study, the state of Hawaii is the most accepting state in the USA with 4.6% of the population identifying as being part of this community. 

This state had top scores of 5/5 for both work safety and the process of changing the gender marker on your birth certificate or driving licence. Additionally, 30% of this community in Hawaii are raising children, the highest rate of the top five states. However, Hawaii still has room for improvement when it comes to the level of support given to LGBTQ+ individuals who wish to start a family, or have started one already as it only scores 2.5/5. 

Co-Founder & Chief Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | Website | + Posts

Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.

She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.

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