3mo ago

LGBT + legal equality index, 2024

38 comments

This kinda thing can't be reduced to a single number, how do you compare the US, where trans people often can't afford HRT in the best states, and are literally unable to get it in Florida, to Iran, where it's free, but surgery is mandatory and being gay is punishable by death?
A place where hatecrimes aren't uncommon, but there is some level of legal protection, to a place with far fewer hatecrimes/discrimination, but no special legal protections?
- Very few subjects can be represented by one graph and still give you the whole story. You could say this about almost anything posted here. I think it’s useful and interesting enough to be here.
- ... Iran, where it's free, but surgery is mandatory and being gay is punishable by death?
  It's free because it's the "sentence" for being gay. Get an operation or be executed.
  
  I'm not quite sure how punitive it is. Basically they fully acknowledge trans people, but not homosexuality, so everyone gets pushed into the trans category.
  
  Yes, the point is a binary trans Iranian who wants surgery is less oppressed in Iran on the axis of being trans than in America, but they're quite obviously worse for someone in nearly any other position.
- I agree that countries ara hard to compare "in bulk" but I think that naming the chart with the wording "legal equality" hints at acknowledging that it's representing a very concrete dimension of equality in general.
  
  Iran should probably be a lighter shade than Saudi, then. They're on a similar level for gay people, but actually ahead of the US on trans people.
- Great points! My first thought was, bullshit on comparing the entire planet.
  In any case, gays got it far better in America than they did 30-years ago. Shit takes time.
- Yeah, but also you can see some countries scoring lower due to trans rights where queer couples have equivalent rights to het. No "map" is going to take all the nuance. But your point is valid. Reducing to a number obscures things and it's worth little in terms of reliable, actionable info.

I was confused by Greece for a second as I put it in a religious conservative corner without thinking. But then I remembered Greek history.
- You have to skip over 1500 years or so, though. It's still surprising.
  
  Traditions do not have to be based on logic it seems

Isn't China on the decline more?
- Yes, but decline takes time.
- Apparently it's more progressive than South Korea (though far less so than Taiwan).
  
  Idk why but SK is very problematic regarding civil rights in general from a Democratic point of measurement. Japan is considered petty conservative but they are progressive compared to SK.
  I however doubt that China is better than SK as they outright ban LGBT characters in media and even mentioning trans people is a problem.

Wow, South America, I did not see that coming. I mean, I knew about Brazil a bit, but I assumed it was a Thailand situation where the law and the practice were two different things.

Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are red.

Scandinavia is only mid blue? Why?
- The source for this data is Equaldex. According to their data on Sweden, for example, the following things are rated negatively:
  non-binary genders aren‘t legally recognized
  intersex infant surgery is not banned
  donating blood is not always possible for homosexual men
  conversion therapy is not banned
  They might also take their public opinion section into account for the country‘s overall score, but I haven‘t looked into that more thoroughly.
  
  Yup. Changing gender also requires sterilization in Norway. It's fucked.

More colors does not a better scale make. Just do red -- white -- green.

thailand legalized gay marriage a few months ago, this map is surprisingly out of date

38 comments