UK drops to 22nd most LGBTQ+ friendly country in Europe

It's the 10th year in the row the UK has dropped on the list.

Each year, an international human rights group called ILGA-Europe ranks 49 countries on their legal and policy practices for LGBTQ+ people, and for the 10th year running the UK has dropped down the list.

Holding the number one spot from 2011 until 2015, the UK are now far from the top spot.

This year’s Rainbow Map ranks the UK in 22nd, a six-place drop from last year's ranking of 16th.

The UK was scored 45.65% by the ILGA.

A score of 0% means the country violates human rights, while 100% means it greatly protects them.

The UK's score is higher than the continents average 41.85%, but far lower than European Union members who, on average, were scored 51.13%.

Speaking to Metro, ILGA said last month’s Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘woman’ is one of the reasons for the UK's downfall.

"Trans people may now be legally treated according to their sex assigned at birth in critical areas of life, including access to services and protections from discrimination.

"Legal gender recognition must ensure that trans people are recognised in all areas of life. That is no longer the case in the UK," they said.

The organisation continued: "As a result, we removed all points related to legal gender recognition from this year’s ranking.

"The law now fails to universally recognise trans people as who they are, with serious consequences for their safety, dignity and equality.

"If the government is serious about being a global leader on human rights, now is the time to act, not to retreat."

As well as this, the UK's lack of a ban on conversion therapy played a part in the ranking.

The top five most friendly countries are Malta, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark and Spain.

Meanwhile the bottom five are Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia and Belarus.