by Kylian Weijers
Research published by Fitbit has indicated that Amsterdam ranks number 2 of the most LGBTI-accepted cities of the world! In their so-called “The Wellbeing Index“, 77 cities were compared on 15 different factors that reveal the liveability of a city – think of happiness, salary, gender equality, green spaces and more.
Top 10 cities LGBTI acceptance
The study has therefore also tested for LGBTI acceptance. The following cities have entered the top 10:
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Montréal, Canada
- Toronto, Canada
- Vancouver, Canada
- Oslo, Norway
- Dublin, Ireland
- Brussels, Belgium
- Ghent, Belgium
In first place, the Icelandic capital Reykjavik scores with a 10/10, closely followed by Amsterdam and Rotterdam with a shared score of 9.8/10. Our neighbour has also done well, with a 9/10 for Brussels and Ghent.
Cities where LGBTI people are least accepted
Jakarta stand at the top of the list of least LGBTI accepted countries with a score of 0/10, followed by Moscow (0.24 / 10) and Beijing (1.5 / 10).
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Moscow, Russia
- Beijing, China
- Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- Shanghai, China
- Bukarest, Romania
- Warsaw, Poland
- Kuala Lumpur, Malasia
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Budapest, Hungary
However, the list of cities is quite limited at 77 and does not represent a complete world view. For instance, COC Amsterdam e.o. receives lots of questions for help from abroad on a weekly base from countries that are not on the list: think of Tunisia, Morocco, Pakistan, Brazil, Kenya and Ghana.
Where does the info come from?
We found out where Fitbit gets their information from. Fitbit has gotten their results form the Social Progress index, which in turn consulted the Gallup World Poll. They use surveys where they have at least 1000 respondents per country or per city above 15 years old filled in by telephone. In this case they asked them the question “Is the city you live in a good place or not a good place to live in for gay and lesbian people?”
Bisexuals, transgenders and intersex people not included
So it seems that Fitbit has forgotten that it is only about the acceptance of homosexuals and lesbians. The good news of Amsterdam being 2nd place can therefore be misinterpreted and come off as if everyone is fully accepted! Fortunately, we have our own Amsterdam Pink Panel, a collaboration between COC Amsterdam e.o. and the Psychology Research Institute of the University of Amsterdam. They have asked more than 450 LGBTI people about their sense of security in Amsterdam. From 2018 the sense of security scored a quite well 7.9. A good score, but the researchers still saw many LGBTI people adjust their behaviour to prevent unsafe situations. This way, certain places and situations are avoided, they try not to stand out and they show no affection for their partner in public. In addition, transgender people expect to be more likely to fall victim to an unsafe situation than cis men and women. Can we really identify ourselves as one of the most accepted LGBTI cities?
We’re not there yet
In comparison with 77 cities around the world, Amsterdam scores very high on LGBTI acceptance! We can be extremely proud of that, but this does not mean that we live in a fully accepted city. One of our goals as COC Amsterdam e.o. is to achieve visibility and acceptance of marginalised groups. COC Amsterdam e.o. actively contributed to the Rainbow Policy of the Municipality of Amsterdam and, through its activities, is thoroughly committed to the emancipation of not only gay men and lesbian women, but also for bisexuals, transgender, intersex people and queers.
