Rankings have become very popular in recent years – also in academia. On the other side, these rankings are normally very superficial and simplistic instruments. To understand their meaning requires at least specific explanations on the methodology and the potential shortcomings. To rank countries according to their performance with regard to the protection of certain minorities suffers from the same weaknesses. Nevertheless, one can say that the so-called Rainbow Index prepared by the International Lesbian and Gay Association’s European Branch (ILGA-Europe) – an NGO active in the defense of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans and intersex (LGBTI) persons – is a powerful instrument that gives the public and legislators some hints on where a country stands and whether human rights of LGBTI persons are taken seriously. It can certainly constitute an interesting starting-point to inquire which should be the priorities for a society when it comes to improving the human rights situation of these minorities. A comparison – even if based on a simplified index and – from an international (European) perspective may help domestic writers to make their opinion heard.
The ranking referred to as Rainbow Europe ranks the Member States of the Council of Europe based on laws and policies that have a direct impact on the LGBTI people’s human rights. It uses six categories: 1. equality and non-discrimination; 2. family; 3. bias motivated speech/violence; 4. legal gender recognition; 5. freedom of assembly, association and expression; and 6. asylum. Under each category a number of indicators have been included, often separated for the different sub-groups (lesbian and gay persons, trans persons and intersex persons ), i.e. referring to the particular criterion for the definition of the respective groups (sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex). For each criterion a State gets either a positive entry (and thus all the associated points) or nothing - a necessary simplification to make the index operational but obviously a shortcoming for a detailed legal analysis. Only in some areas (like marriage against registered partnerships), the index itself provides for differentiations.