7 Countries That Are Getting Friendlier for LGBTQ Travelers

Like clockwork each year, I see my travel-loving queer friends jetting around the same circuit: Rio de Janeiro for New Year’s Eve, Whistler for Gay Ski Week, Spain for summer vacations, Mykonos and Sitges for anytime. But lately, it seems that queer folks’ travel destinations are growing beyond the usual suspects.

Simon Mayle, event director of Proud Experiences, an LGBTQ travel trade conference, thinks the global travel industry is moving beyond “gay travel” as a monolithic catchall term. Now, companies are growing more attuned to the sensitivities and needs of individuals—whether that’s access to gender-neutral bathrooms or using a traveler’s preferred pronouns—wherever they travel.

Luckily, some countries are seeing increased legal rights and cultural acceptance of LGBTQ travelers. Tools like Equaldex and Global Change Data Lab use interactive maps to illustrate the evolution of LGBTQ rights over time, current laws, and public opinion scores. The rankings consider factors like marriage equality, parentage, the right to change one’s gender, and the basic right of not being discriminated against for who you are. Many countries still have work to do, but these advancing rights and metrics could be considered a bellwether for how safe and welcome a traveler might feel.

Whether you’re looking to expand your travels while keeping safety in mind or you want to show support for countries moving in a positive direction, here are some countries worth traveling to where LGBTQ rights are advancing.

Courtesy of Tobias Reich/Unsplash

South Africa

In Africa’s southernmost country, same-sex marriage has been legal since 2006, and it also exceeds the United States in both LGBTQ rights and public opinions on the LGBT Equality Index. In 2024, the country passed a landmark “Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill.” While some have deemed the bill controversial, it has been largely met with enthusiasm by LGBTQ advocacy groups for toughening penalties for hate crimes. This upward trend toward equality lends legitimacy to the upcoming WorldPride celebrations scheduled to take place in Cape Town in 2028.

Barbados

Surf, sunshine, rum punch—there are many reasons why travelers frequent the Caribbean, but unfortunately LGBTQ rights have not historically been one of them. “There’s a big colonial hangover in many Caribbean countries,” says Mayle. “A lot of British colonial laws about homosexuality have become engrained in the culture.” That appears to be changing, however. In 2022, the Barbados High Court overturned a law that banned same-sex activity. While the country still has a ways to go in terms of anti-discrimination and marriage equality, the situation is certainly on a gay-friendly upswing.

Courtesy of www.gothaibefree.com – Tourism Authority of Thailand / Martin Perry

Thailand

The Land of Smiles became the second country in Asia (after Taiwan) to legalize same-sex marriage, with a new law that grants same-sex couples equal legal, financial, and medical rights as heterosexual couples. This wide-ranging law also granted same-sex couples adoption and inheritance rights. According to Thailand’s Ministry of the Interior, more than 1,700 same-sex couples wed on January 23, 2025, the day the law came into effect.

Estonia

In 2024, Estonia became the first Baltic country and first former Soviet state to legalize same-sex marriage and to allow LGBTQ parents to jointly adopt. Public opinion is on the rise, too: In 2023, a survey by the Estonian Human Rights Centre found that 56 percent of respondents consider homosexuality somewhat or completely acceptable, up from 34 percent in 2014. While Tallinn does not have its own Pride Month festivities, it does participate in Baltic Pride, which cycles annually through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Hopefully, in time, Estonia’s Baltic neighbors can follow its lead.

Photo by Avani Rai

India

LGBTQ rights are on the rise in the world’s most populous country, if haltingly. In 2025, for the first time in its history, the country’s most prestigious literature organization, Sahitya Akademi, allowed LGBTQ poets to present at its Festival of Letters in Thiruvananthapuram. And Mumbai’s annual KASHISH Pride Film Festival (the largest in South Asia) is now showing over 152 LGBTQ films to nearly 10,000 attendees.

Legal changes have been relatively slow to develop but have gained momentum at the federal and state level. In 2022, for instance, the southern state of Tamil Nadu added Rule 24-C to its law enforcement conduct rules, prohibiting police officers from harassing or discriminating against members of the LGBTQ community. The Indian Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that same-sex couples can have social security rights and are a “family unit,” but in 2023 it declined to legalize same-sex marriage, opining that the issue should be addressed through legislation in Parliament.

Chile

Most of South America has relatively high scores for LGBTQ rights, and Chile has long been at the forefront. The country legalized same-sex marriage in 2022, and it has passed a number of laws since 2019 allowing for gender self-determination. Individuals over the age of 18 can self-report their name and gender on official documents through the Civil Registry and Identification Service, and children over the age of 14 can do the same through the courts system.

In addition, the Ministry of Health prohibited unnecessary and nonconsensual gender assignments on intersex newborns and children in 2023; gay and lesbian people have been allowed to donate blood since 2013 (about a decade before the United States); and conversion therapy has been prohibited since 2023. Santiago’s annual Pride march, Marcha del Orgullo, may not be the largest in Latin America (it places third after Mexico City and Buenos Aires), but it is certainly unique in not allowing for-profit companies to promote their brands—keeping the event’s spirit as a grassroots social and political event alive.

Courtesy of Visit Greenland

Greenland

It’s surely only a coincidence that the first direct flight from the United States to Greenland is launching during Pride Month, on June 14 from United Airlines, but that’s just another reason to go now. One year ago, in May 2024, Greenland passed its Law on Equal Treatment and Anti-Discrimination, making all discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity illegal. While same-sex marriage has been legal on the world’s largest island since 2016, the country continues to advance LGBTQ rights—while simultaneously growing as a travel destination.