Reykjavik tops LGBT-friendly cities in Wellbeing Index
The Wellbeing Index has revealed the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world and Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, tops the list.
Created by Fitbit, the study ranks the 77 major world cities in order of their liveability based on 15 factors, including gender equality, safety, and LGBT acceptance.
Reykjavik first among Wellbeing Index’s LGBT-friendly cities
Reykjavik was judged to be the best place to live for LGBT people with a score of 10/10 with its “full legal equality as well as strong representation in parliament and the media.”
It should be noted that Iceland elected Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir as their first female Prime Minister and the world’s first openly LGBT head of government.
Following Reykjavik was Amsterdam and Rotterdam of the Netherlands, listed as the world’s second and third most LGBT-friendly cities.
At the fourth, fifth, and sixth spot were three Canadian cities: Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Oslo, the capital of Norway, was at seventh while Dublin, the capital of Ireland, was at eighth followed by two Belgian cities, Brussels and Ghent, at ninth and tenth.
In the US, Los Angeles had the rank of 21, followed by New York with 22 and San Francisco with 23. In the UK, London had the rank of 33.
Jakarta last among Wellbeing Index’s LGBT-friendly cities
At the other end, Jakarta in Indonesia ranked last among the worst major cities to be a member of the LGBT community with a score of 0/10.
Indonesia is currently mulling updates to their penal code wherein unmarried couples that “live together as a husband and wife” can be jailed for six months could also target the LGBT community
This was followed by Moscow, the capital of Russia, with the next three spots taken by cities in China: Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong.
At sixth and seventh spot were Bucharest in Romania and Warsaw in Poland. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia was at eighth spot.
Ninth and tenth spots were taken up by Istanbul in Turkey and Budapest in Hungary.
Indicators of the LGBT-friendly cities around the world
The Wellbeing Index had 4 categories in which to judge a city: day-to-day living, it’s all business, safety first and going green.
Aside from the aforementioned factors in the Wellbeing Index, other factors were happiness, healthcare, living costs, green spaces, among others.
For the aspect of LGBT-friendly, each city was ranked on how accepting they are of the LGBT community based on a worldwide indicator sourced from Social Progress.
However, many of the worst countries for LGBT rights were not included in the study.
For complete details of the study, check it out here: