The best American states for the LGBTQ community, per the Spartacus Index

Not every state in the U.S. has the same level of tolerance and legal rights for people who are not hetero. It's good to know the variety of LGBTQ laws and cultural tendencies in American states when you prepare for a trip through the vast country.

In the Spartacus Gay Travel Index for the USA, 50 American states have been ranked based on their LGBTQ rights legislation and other factors that could make life more or less difficult for people who have non-conventional relationships or gender identities. Its map colors the states from green (most welcoming) to red (most hostile), just like a traffic light.

Image: spartacus.gayguide.travel

While we only reveal the top 10 states in the ranking here, the website is like a 'Green Book' for the queer community today. Among other things, the Spartacus Index looks at censorship laws concerning LGBTQ school materials and books; the possibility of protection through hate crime laws in each state; and the number of violent crimes committed against LGBTQ people in the past year.

Photo: Dino Reichmuth / Unsplash

The ten safest, most comfortable states for gay travelers have New York as their number one. The state scored 14 points, which means it is the most inclusive state for the LGBTQ community.

A score of 14 points is pretty high. New York State has more points in the Spartacus Gay Travel Index than the national averages of the world's highest-ranking countries. Portugal, Spain, Malta, Canada, and New Zealand, all sharing the number-one spot in the world, tied at 12 points in the index.

California obtained a score of 13, ranking second along with three other states discussed below. It's not surprising, as the state has been considered very liberal in terms of LGBTQ protection and culture since the 1970s.

Colorado also scored 13 points. Civil unions between people of the same sex have been legal in this state since 2013. In the Spartacus Index, Colorado also scored high on transgender rights.

This is the third state with a score of 13. Nevada shares with New York and California the highest score for Queer Infrastructure, meaning that its facilities for the LGBTQ community to meet and interact are excellent.

Photo: Ameer Basheer / Unsplash

The fourth state sharing second place with 13 points is Oregon. In this state, discrimination of any kind based on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited.

The state of Washington scored 12 points, which means that it is quite a safe place for LGBTQ travelers. In fact, with this score, Washington matches the overall safest countries in the world.

The same goes for Washington DC. The federal capital scored 12 points after weighing all categories in favor and against LGBTQ travel safety.

Next on the list is Illinois with 11 points. The difference with the higher-ranking states is that instead of 1 point for 'Hostile Locals', it has 0 points. This means that in terms of violence aimed at people from the LGBTQ community, Illinois scores a bit worse than the leading states.

Massachusetts scored 11 points. It has slightly lower results for the 'Gay and Trans Panic Defense' category. This means that someone on trial for violence against a member of the LGBTQ community is a bit more likely in Massachusetts than in other states to get acquitted in court using the argument that they committed the crime because they were frightened by the victim's sexual orientation.

Image: A n v e s h / Unsplash

Sharing a score of 11 with Illinois and Massachusetts, New Jersey is considered progressive in terms of LGBTQ rights. Since the late '60s, discrimination against gays has been severely punished, and since 2013, they have been able to get married in the state.

Image: Slade Lapusnak / Unsplash

While these ten states are very welcoming to people of all orientations, the scores for several other states have gone down since the Trump presidency. Those states introduced censorship of LGBTQ reading materials, laws against gender-affirming health care for transgender people, and prohibitions of drag performances, for example.

Scores can go as low as minus 6 in Oklahoma, which goes to show how polarized the United States of America are.

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