The journalist took a deep look into LGBTQ+ rights in each country. After over 400 hours of research, they reviewed every country’s individual laws and gathered data from a variety of international sources to create an “LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index” that will help travellers find the safest countries in the world.

The list of safest countries is based on 10 factors related to LGBTQ+ safety, including protections against discrimination, criminalization of violence and illegality of same sex relationships.