Iceland Bounces Back From 14th To 9th On ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map

After sitting at 14th for two years running, Iceland has made some improvements to the rights of queer people in the country, taking them up to 9th place out of 49 countries surveyed by the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe).

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The full report cited numerous steps forward, while also pointing out where Iceland could still do better.

Some of the positive points included symbolic gestures, such as rainbow flags raised across Reykjavík last May and the unveiling of a rainbow pedestrian walk.

At the same time, there were also some more significant improvements, including the legal recognition of nonbinary people, Reykjavík issuing guidelines for pool staff on how to be more accommodating to trans people, and the expansion of education programmes led by the National Queer Organisation in public schools.

In terms of rooms for improvement, ILGA-Europe recommends “[i]ncluding express mention to all SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics) grounds in policies designed to tackle hate crime”, “[r]eforming the prohibition of medical interventions on intersex minors to be universal,” and “[i]ntroducing laws on asylum that contain express mention of all SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics) grounds.”

The report in its entirety can be read here.