BERLIN — The Spartacus International Gay Guide, published by Bruno Gmünder Press, has released its updated Gay Travel Index, analyzing the legal climate for gays and lesbians in more than 190 countries.
Many countries in Western Europe fared well in The Gay Travel Index. A representative for Bruno Gmünder Press said, "The top positions remain unchanged: Sweden on position 1, together with the United Kingdom, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands and France."
However, the Gay Travel Index found that there is room for improvement in Germany. Bruno Gmünder Press said, "The great political debate on the introduction of marriage between homosexuals in Germany after the referendum in conservative Ireland and the Supreme Court decision in the United States, ultimately led to no political progress. German Chancellor Angela Merkel remains firmly against the expansion of LGBT rights. The CDU is and remains the only party in the Bundestag parliament, which is publicly against the introduction. In the foreseeable future, all will remain as it stands today. It is very possible that other countries such as Switzerland or Portugal pass Germany in the Index ranking."
The Gay Travel Index cited the United States as a country that, in terms of gay rights, took a step forward in 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
Nepal fared well in the Gay Travel Index because, Bruno Gmünder Press said, "In the new constitution in Nepal is an explicit prohibition of discrimination against gays and lesbians." And the Gay Travel Index has a favorable view of Mozambique, which Bruno Gmünder Press said "legalized homosexuality, contrary to the general trend on the African continent."
Bruno Gmünder Press also said, "As in the previous year, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Russia are at the bottom of the Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2016."
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