The latest edition of ILGA Europe's Rainbow List has found that LGBTI people living in or visiting Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia will experience the worst living conditions in Europe. The annual review ranks 49 European countries on a scale from 0 percent to 100 percent. Those closer to 0 percent are considered worst for gross violations of human rights and discrimination while the other end of the scale respects human rights and full equality. Azerbaijan is rock-bottom of the ranking with just 2.4 percent. Poland is also among the eight worst-ranked nations in Europe and the poorest performing EU member state.
The situation in Azerbaijan is particularly dire for LGBTI people. As reported by the source, "the US Embassy in Azerbaijan published the detailed ‘Report on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan - 2020’, highlighting discrimination, violence, and other forms of ill-treatment against LGBTI people as a key concern." ILGA reports Azerbaijan's Deputy Chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, Tahir Karimli, as saying: “As long as I am an MP, I will protest against the issue of sexual minorities, I will even revolt. Everything can be tolerated, but not this one. It is [...] necessary to strangle [this trend] on the spot.”
