Lgbtq population map

Rainbow Map

2025 rainbow map

These are the main findings for the 2025 edition of the rainbow map

The Rainbow Map ranks 49 European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI people, from 0-100%.

The UK has dropped six places in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map, as Hungary and Georgia also register steep falls following anti-LGBTI legislation. The data highlights how rollbacks on LGBTI human rights are part of a broader erosion of democratic protections across Europe. Read more in our press release.

“Moves in the UK, Hungary, Georgia and beyond signal not just isolated regressions, but a coordinated global backlash aimed at erasing LGBTI rights, cynically framed as the defence of tradition or public stability, but in reality designed to entrench discrimination and suppress dissent.”

  • Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director, ILGA-Europe


Malta has sat on top of the ranking for the last 10 years. 

With 85 points, Belgium jumped to second place after adopting policies tackling hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. 

Iceland now comes third place on the ranking with a score of 84.

The three
lgbtq population map

LGBT Populations

This guide shows the estimated crude number of LGBT people (ages 13+) living in each state. The statistics are based on a Williams Institute analysis of surveys conducted by Gallup Polling (2012-2017) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2015 and 2017 YRBS). For more communication, see the methodology in the Williams analysis. 

  • 500K - 1.4M+

  • 200K - 499K

  • 50K - 199K

  • 8K - 49K

Data are not currently available about LGBT people living in the U.S. territories.


Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBTQ mature person population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBTQ grown-up population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.

This route shows the estimated percentage of each state's individual (ages 18+) population that identifies as lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, or transgender, based on a 2018 study of Gallup data by The Williams Institute.

  • 5.0% and greater

  • 4.0%-4.9%

  • 3.0%-3.9%

  • 1.5%-2.9%


Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These p

ILGA World maps are among the most mutual visual representations of how LGBTIQ people are affected by laws and policies around the world.

The scope of our long-standing rights mapping has expanded thanks to the ILGA World Database. With that platform, ILGA maps have change into interactive and constantly updated, to greater cover sexual orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a alternative gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More, gender identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More and utterance, and sex characteristicsa term that refers to physical features relating to sex - including genitalia and other sexual and reproductive anatomy, chromosomes, hormones, and secondary physical features emerging from puberty. More (SOGIESCabbreviation standing for sexual orientation and gender individuality & expression, and sex characteristics. More) issues globally.

Our LGBTIQ rights maps cover more than 100 topics, as well as how SOGIESCabbrev

Estimates and characteristics of LGBTI+ populations in Australia

Proportion of LGB+(a) and heterosexual (straight) people 16 years and over by state or territory, 2022[["NSW","Vic","Qld","SA","WA","Tas","NT","ACT"],[[29.600000000000001],[31.600000000000001],[18.100000000000001],[6.4000000000000004],[8.4000000000000004],[2.6000000000000001],[0.69999999999999996],[2.3999999999999999]],[[26.300000000000001,32.899999999999999],[28.699999999999999,34.5],[15.5,20.699999999999999],[5.2000000000000002,7.5999999999999996],[6.9000000000000004,9.9000000000000004],[2,3.2000000000000002],[0.5,0.90000000000000002],[1.7,3.1000000000000001]],[[31.800000000000001],[25.600000000000001],[20.300000000000001],[7.0999999999999996],[10.6],[2.2000000000000002],[0.69999999999999996],[1.7]],[[31.699999999999999,31.899999999999999],[25.5,25.699999999999999],[20.199999999999999,20.399999999999999],[7,7.2000000000000002],[10.5,10.699999999999999],[2.2000000000000002,2.2000000000000002],[0.69999999999999996,0.69999999999999996],[1.7,1.7]]][][{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title"

Advancing LGBTQI+ Inclusion on the American Community Survey

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It collects information about the social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics of our nation's population. Unlike the decennial census, which is a short survey conducted every 10 years that is used to earn an official count of the entire U.S. population, the ACS produces facts annually and asks many more questions that shed light on the populations’ needs and experiences across key areas of existence, such as health, learning process, housing, employment, and economic security The Census Bureau contacts over 3.5 million households each year from across the country to participate in the ACS.

Although lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people complete the ACS every year, the survey does not currently inquire questions about sexual orientation, gender identity, or variations in sex characteristics. This means we don’t hold ACS data about solo LGBQ+ adults, LGBTQI+ youth, transgender people, or intersex people.  Without questions about sexual orientation, gender self, an