Research

The Inclusiveness Indicator on the LGBTQ+ community in 2019 is calculated based on two measures: an Index on rights and the percentage of lawmakers who belong to the LGBTQ+ community in the lower house of parliament. The presence of laws that provide members of the LGBTQ+ community with rights is a direct reflection of the government’s commitment to protecting the community from discrimination. Likewise, representation of members of the LGBTQ+ community in the lower house of parliament is a strong indicator of inclusion, as the people trust their elected officials from the LGBTQ+ community to represent their values and interests.

Analysis

The results of the LGBTQ+ clearly show that there is a lot of work still to be done globally in including members of the LGBTQ+ community into society. If Alfred Kinsey’s research is to be believed to this day and approximately 10% of the world belongs to the LGBTQ+ community in some way, only New Zealand closely meets this proportion in terms of representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the lower house of parliament. The Netherlands, on the other hand, far exceeds this metric with 16% of their lower house of parliament identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were many countries in this analysis that not only had zero representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the lower house of parliament, but also actively have laws that criminalize same-sex relations and forms of gender expression. Many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia currently have multiple laws that target members of the LGBTQ+ community, punishable by jail time, corporal punishment, even death. In 2019, North Korea, Brunei, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia had the lowest Z-scores, indicating the most severe laws and restrictions against the LGBTQ+ community.