LGBTQ+ travel in 2025: Why regional context matters more than ever

Here we explore how legal, social and political shifts in 2025 are shaping the safety of LGBTQ+ travellers - and what that means for individuals and organisations.

From rising legal restrictions in parts of Africa and the Middle East to growing polarisation in Europe and the Americas, understanding the local environment is now critical. Even in countries with progressive laws, lived experience doesn’t always match legislation.

For employers and risk managers, the challenge is clear: policies and duty of care must adapt to reflect both legal realities and nuanced, fast-moving regional contexts.

The global legal picture 

Europe

Although travel to the region remains largely permissive, the passage of legislation linked to child protection in Hungary has accompanied government efforts to ban Budapest’s annual Pride march, viewed as part of a wider effort to crack down on the LGBTQ+ community.

A growing trend in Europe has also seen governments from Hungary to Serbia, Slovakia and Georgia adopt legislation designed to increase scrutiny on non-governmental organisations, often including LGBTQ+ groups. The intense and public debate over the rights of same-sex couples relating to birth certificates in Italy is reflective of the divide over LGBTQ+ rights policies under Georgia Meloni’s government, although travel remains overwhelmingly safe.

The previous year demonstrated that Europe can broadly be divided between countries which subscribe to EU democratic norms and those with populist or socially conservative governments which place greater emphasis on so-called traditional or non-Western values.

While travel throughout the Eurozone remains generally safe for LGBTQ+ travellers, ensuring access to up-to-date information regarding regional trends remains a priority for organisations operating in Europe.

Middle East and North Africa

The MENA region remains among the most legally restrictive for LGBTQ+ individuals, with notable changes in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation over the past year. In April 2024, Iraq passed a law criminalising same-sex relations and gender-affirming care, imposing penalties of up to 15 years in prison - one of the harshest such laws in the region.

Tunisia continues to enforce Article 230 of its penal code, with a high-profile case in February 2024 seeing two men sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for alleged same-sex activity. Tel Aviv’s 2025 Pride celebration proceeded under tight security amid regional tensions, reinforcing its reputation as a rare safe haven.

However, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to face systemic threats across much of the Middle East and North Africa region, including online surveillance, police entrapment, and arbitrary arrests, highlighting the ongoing security risks in highly repressive states.

Africa

Risks posed to LGBTQ+ travellers are heightened and follow a deteriorating trend in sub-Saharan Africa. Homosexuality is criminalised in 31 countries and even in countries without anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, public opinion does not necessarily reflect the legal environment.

In Ghana, a group of MPs reintroduced a tough anti-LGBTQ+ bill to parliament in March 2025, reflecting the rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in the country. While in multiple countries, political and religious leaders direct violent rhetoric towards the LGBTQ+ community, contributing to a rise in attacks targeting LGBTQ+ people in countries such as Uganda and Senegal, among others.

South Africa is considered a comparative safe haven for LGBTQ+ travellers, with significant LGBTQ+ communities in large urban centres, although negative sentiment does occasionally persist, particularly in rural areas.

Americas

LGBTQ+ risks have largely remained stable across the Americas region. However, the range of executive orders issued by President Trump, which include only allowing two genders on official documents and ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, contributed to a rollback in LGBTQ+ rights.

Although most Americans and Canadians remain in favour of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms, the politicisation of these issues poses a risk of increasing leeway around abuse and harassment of members of the community. Laws in Mexico also adequately protect LGBTQ+ individuals; however, surveys conducted in the country indicate that over 37% of members of the community have been impacted by discrimination in the last year, indicating the latent risk to LGBTQ+ travellers.

In the Caribbean, many countries and their legislation are more restrictive to LGBTQ+ rights due to sodomy laws from the colonial period. The most notable development in the region was the re-establishment of a prison sentence for male same-sex relations in Trinidad and Tobago after seven years of it being decriminalised. In Dominica, same-sex relations were legalised in 2024, indicating an improving trend on the island. In South America, legal protection and freedoms for members of the LGBTQ+ community have remained stable, with the risk being generally low in urban centres in comparison to often more conservative rural areas.

APAC

Where countries in north Asia have seen a general trend towards improvements, South Asia, particularly predominantly Islamic countries, continues to have minimal rights afforded to the LGBTQ+ community. Australia and New Zealand continue to lead the way in terms of rights, on levels similar to Western European countries.

The APAC region, in terms of legislation, has seen more positive changes in support of the LGBTQ+ community over the past year. A notable example is the legalisation of same-sex marriages in Thailand, the first in Southeast Asia, in January 2025. Japan has also introduced further support for same-sex couples, though not yet legalising same-sex marriages.

There was a general increase in incidents against the LGBTQ+ community, particularly in Bangladesh during the student protests of July 2024. Several communities were targeted with arson and other forms of harassment, prompting a worsening of the security environment for the LGBTQ+ community in the country.

Advice for travellers and organisations concerning LGBTQ+ rights and travel safety:

• Familiarise yourself with the existing laws regarding the recognition of same-sex relations and transgender status before travelling. Online resources, including Equaldex and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), may help security managers and employees understand the legal context affecting LGBTQ+ members in their destination.
• Reconsider participating in Pride events in countries where they have historically led to unrest, have been banned, or where your legal status does not allow you to take part in events deemed as protests.
• Research the legal status and availability of your required medication before travelling, including hormone treatments, Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). Also, ensure you travel with the necessary prescriptions if you suspect the medication may be subject to enhanced screenings. 
• Make a judgement call before engaging in public displays of affection or disclosing your sexual orientation to untrusted individuals.
• Maintain a low profile on social media platforms and avoid sharing personal information, especially sensitive details such as your home and workplace locations, particularly if you are in countries with increased surveillance and entrapment risks. To protect your privacy, it is important to exercise discretion and limit the amount of personal information you reveal online.