The Gay-Friendliness Index of World Cities

1 “The Gay-Friendliness Index of World Cities”1 February 16, 2009 This report presents the first-ever index of “gay-friendliness” of world cities. This index ranks leading cities according to how many GLBT-owned or GLBT-friendly organizations exist in the most important cities in the world. The data is extracted from Spartacus, a publication that for the past 38 years has been producing a directory of GLBT businesses and organizations in cities worldwide. Billed as the world’s best “international gay guide,” Spartacus publishes an annual directory of GLBT-friendly business and organization addresses in the main cities of approximately 160 countries, for a total of almost 22,000 addresses. Precisely because its mission is to help gay travelers find gay friendly establishments and resources abroad, Spartacus is a useful source for measuring the GLBT organizational density of world cities. To construct this index, we counted the number of GLBT-friendly businesses (bars, clubs, discos; coffee shops; discos; restaurants; hotels; book shops; sex shops; saunas/gay baths; leather clubs; publications) and organizations (gay centers; gay liberation; religious groups; health services; help; gay radio stations; switchboards, help lines) as listed in Spartacus. Column A reports this number. We listed the top three most populous cities for each country. We did not include cities with fewer than 500,000 inhabitants. The total list includes 180 world cities. The problem with the figures in Column A is that they do not correct for population size. A city of 2 million is likely to have far fewer GLBT organizations than a larger city. To correct for population size, we divided the total number of GLBT businesses and organizations by each city’s population, to come up with the number of GLBT establishments per 1 million inhabitants. Column B reports the results. 2 Several features stand out: 1) First, there is a wide-spectrum of gay density, ranging from cities with zero data to very gay friendly: cities that have 30 or more gay establishments per 1 million inhabitants (see Figure 1) 2) The top 10 cities in the index include, not surprisingly, the world’s “richest” cities.2 3) Most Latin American cities are located in intermediate positions—not quite at the bottom (score of zero to 0.99), not quite at the top of the list (the 30 to 61 range). Only two of 33 Latin American cities have zero scores (Port-au-Prince and Tegucigalpa). 4) Some Latin American cities do quite well, with per capita scores that are higher than New York City: Montevideo, San José, Quito (remember, it’s a per capita index) 5) Most Latin American cities do much better than the majority of cities in the developing world (the majority of which are at the very bottom of the list (in the 0 to 0.99 range). 2 1) First, there is a wide-spectrum of GLBT organizational density, ranging from cities with zero data (meaning that the editors of Spartacus were unable to identify or report GLBT-friendly businesses and organizations) to very gay friendly-cities (Rome tops the list with 61 GLBT establishments for every one million inhabitant). 2) The top 10 cities in the index include mostly cities in rich countries. 3) Latin American cities do not fare so badly: most are located in intermediate positions—not quite at the bottom (score of zero), not quite at the top of the list (see Figure 1). 4) Some Latin American cities do quite well, with per capita scores that are higher than New York City: Montevideo, San José, Quito. 5) Only two Latin American cities have zero scores (Port-au-Prince and Tegucigalpa). 6) Most Latin American cities rank higher than most developing country cities. Cities include cities in the richest countries in the world, including Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. 3 Figure 1: Gay Density Index by World City This gay-friendliness index must be treated with caution, for a number of reasons. First, the index is somewhat biased against cities with the larger populations. In the index, a city such as Asunción, with only 13 GLBT establishments, appears higher on the ranking than New York City, with 140 establishments; Asunción’s population (2 million) is far smaller than New York’s (21.8 million). Furthermore, it is fair to assume that in larger cities, there is a greater chance of “missing data,” since it is harder for researchers to find all GLBT establishments in large environments. Third, the source used, Spartacus, was not created by scholars but by an organization that is trying to explore the tourism-friendliness of cities. It is thus somewhat biased towards more touristy destinations—mostly Europe and North America—the regions of the world that in fact receive the largest influx of tourists. Fourth, the lack of open GLBT establishments does not mean that the city’s gay underground life is non-vibrant or unsafe. The index thus underreports an important component of GLBT life—that which occurs in private domains. Fifth, the index makes no mention of the legal and illegal forms of discrimination or protection environment. Sixth, the index does not take into consideration risk factors such as the incidence of hate crime or gender-based crimes, the extent of sexual epidemics, and the gay-friendliness of health services in each city, all of which affect the quality of life of sexual minorities. Yet, the index does provide the best account of the openness of GLBT organizations in world cities. The index shows clearly that Latin American major cities, on a per capita basis, are not gay deserts any more. They may not be as filled with GLBT organizations as European capitals such as Rome, Amsterdam, and Berlin, but they are not as empty as so many cities in the developing world continue to be, or as those very same cities were in the recent past. In addition, the index reveals a number of interesting puzzles for future researchers to 4 unravel. First, the ranking cannot be explained by income levels, which is usually a variable considered to be a strong predictor of strong associational life. Figure 2 plots the relation between the index score for Latin American cities and a measure of each city’s per capita income calculated by the magazine América Economía. There is virtually no correlation. Figure 2 A better predictor of gay-friendliness is “regime type.” Figure 3 shows the correlation between the GLBT-friendliness index and levels of democracy in the country where the city is located. The measure of regime type used is the “Freedom in the World Index” produced by Freedom House. This Freedom Index assigns two scores per country: one for political liberties (ranging from 1, freest, to 7, least free) and one for civil liberties (same scoring). Figure 3 adds both the civil and political liberties scores, creating a scale ranging from freest countries (2 points, one for political liberties plus one for civil liberties) to least free countries (14 points, seven for political liberties plus seven for civil liberties). Figure 3 shows, not surprisingly, the cities in mostly authoritarian regimes (those scoring 7-15) tend to have low gay-friendliness scores, suggesting that regime features matters: authoritarianism tends to block a city’s gayfriendliness. 5 i Figure 3 However, even this predictor is imperfect. It’s not correct to say that the more democratic countries will always yield the most gay-friendly cities. Along the 2 score for regime type, there is far greater variation in gay friendliness values. Levels of democracy seem to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for gay-friendliness. Not all democracies have the same level of gay-friendliness. 6 3 most populous cities population (in 1000s) Spartacus '07 no. of bus. Spartacus '07 no. of org. Column A Column B (per capita) Org + bus D+E/C 1 Rome 3100 81 109 190 61.29032258 2 Amsterdam 1900 93 8 101 53.15789474 3 Prague 1310 62 7 69 52.67175573 4 Antwerp 1110 51 5 56 50.45045045 5 Zürich 1110 51 5 56 50.45045045 6 Berlin 4225 196 11 207 48.99408284 7 Brussels 1910 70 6 76 39.79057592 8 Montréal 3750 111 7 118 31.46666667 9 Barcelona 4150 119 10 129 31.08433735 10 Copenhagen 1380 33 9 42 30.43478261 11 Vienna 1970 50 8 58 29.44162437 12 Stockholm 1900 45 4 49 25.78947368 13 Helsinki 1120 24 4 28 25 14 Montevideo 1650 39 0 39 23.63636364 15 Auckland 1280 26 3 29 22.65625 16 Dublin 1070 20 4 24 22.42990654 17 Valencia (Spain) 1580 34 1 35 22.15189873 18 Budapest 2275 41 8 49 21.53846154 19 Madrid 5950 122 4 126 21.17647059 20 Lisbon 2925 53 3 56 19.14529915 21 Sydney 4375 73 10 83 18.97142857 22 Oslo 807 14 1 15 18.58736059 23 Paris 9950 179 5 184 18.49246231 24 Milan 3525 58 7 65 18.43971631 25 San José 1360 25 0 25 18.38235294 26 Bangkok 8550 135 2 137 16.02339181 27 Manchester 2475 37 2 39 15.75757576 28 Quito 1690 25 1 26 15.38461538 29 Lyon 1430 22 0 22 15.38461538 30 Vancouver 2175 29 4 33 15.17241379 806 11 1 12 14.88833747 1360 20 0 20 14.70588235 31 Thessaloniki 32 Beirut 33 Riga 761 11 0 11 14.45466491 34 Stuttgart 2650 38 0 38 14.33962264 35 Marseille 1470 21 0 21 14.28571429 36 Panama City 1280 18 0 18 14.0625 37 Phnom Penh 1390 18 1 19 13.66906475 38 Athens 3500 42 5 47 13.42857143 39 Rhein-Ruhr North 5750 73 3 76 13.2173913 40 Melbourne 3725 41 7 48 12.88590604 41 Rotterdam 1480 18 1 19 12.83783784 42 Cape Town 3575 41 3 44 12.30769231 12000 142 5 147 12.25 43 London 7 44 Toronto 5300 60 4 64 12.0754717 45 Sofia 1250 13 2 15 12 46 Göteborg 803 8 1 9 11.20797011 47 Porto 1370 15 0 15 10.94890511 48 The Hague 1370 13 1 14 10.2189781 49 Warsaw 2375 18 5 23 9.684210526 50 Belgrade 1510 10 4 14 9.271523179 51 Brisbane 1860 14 3 17 9.139784946 52 Córdoba (Arg) 1550 14 0 14 9.032258065 53 Rosario 1270 9 2 11 8.661417323 54 Chicago 9750 72 5 77 7.897435897 55 Los Angeles 17900 117 3 120 6.703910615 56 Buenos Aires 13500 80 9 89 6.592592593 57 San Juan 2750 18 0 18 6.545454545 58 Johor Baharu 1070 7 0 7 6.542056075 59 Asunción 2000 13 0 13 6.5 60 Singapore 4775 29 2 31 6.492146597 61 Lodz 1090 7 0 7 6.422018349 62 New York 21800 128 12 140 6.422018349 63 Rio de Janeiro 12200 75 1 76 6.229508197 64 Zagreb 1124 7 0 7 6.227758007 65 Naples 3300 17 3 20 6.060606061 66 Taipei 6950 41 1 42 6.043165468 67 Tel Aviv-Jaffa 3100 13 5 18 5.806451613 68 Yerevan 1210 7 0 7 5.785123967 69 Caracas 4800 24 3 27 5.625 70 Birmingham 2550 14 0 14 5.490196078 71 Monterrey 3950 20 0 20 5.063291139 72 Bogotá 8450 42 0 42 4.970414201 73 Tbilisi 1210 6 0 6 4.958677686 74 Haifa 1010 4 1 5 4.95049505 75 Santo Domingo 3050 14 1 15 4.918032787 76 Colombo 2500 11 1 12 4.8 77 Guatemala City 2125 10 0 10 4.705882353 78 Minsk 1800 7 1 8 4.444444444 79 Belo Horizonte 5700 22 2 24 4.210526316 80 Santiago (Chi) 5950 24 1 25 4.201680672 81 Maracaibo 2225 9 0 9 4.04494382 82Aleppo 2875 11 0 11 3.826086957 83 Hanoi 2125 8 0 8 3.764705882 84 Guayaquil 2400 9 0 9 3.75 85 Taichung 2425 9 0 9 3.711340206 86 Kiev 3325 7 5 12 3.609022556 87 Lima 8200 26 3 29 3.536585366 88 São Paulo 20400 68 4 72 3.529411765 89 Istanbul 11700 41 0 41 3.504273504 90 Kaohsiung 2925 10 0 10 3.418803419 91 Ho Chi Minh City 5600 19 0 19 3.392857143 92 Medellín 3550 12 0 12 3.38028169 93 Cali 2700 9 0 9 3.333333333 8 94 San Salvador 2400 8 0 8 3.333333333 95 Donetsk 1807 5 1 6 3.320420587 96 Kharkov 1830 6 0 6 3.278688525 97 Durban 3375 11 0 11 3.259259259 98 Almaty 1230 4 0 4 3.25203252 99 Johannesburg 7700 23 0 23 2.987012987 100 Kathmandu 1340 4 0 4 2.985074627 101 Mexico City 22100 60 5 65 2.941176471 102 Lusaka 1700 5 0 5 2.941176471 103 Bucharest 2050 5 1 6 2.926829268 104 Surabaja 2925 8 0 8 2.735042735 105 Saint Petersburg 4775 9 4 13 2.722513089 106 Managua 1120 3 0 3 2.678571429 107 Kuala Lampur 4450 11 0 11 2.471910112 108 Katowice 2850 7 0 7 2.456140351 109 Izmir 2850 7 0 7 2.456140351 110 Dakar 2525 6 0 6 2.376237624 111 Busan 3575 8 0 8 2.237762238 112 La Paz 1800 4 0 4 2.222222222 113 Metro Manila 15400 33 0 33 2.142857143 114 Moscow 13400 24 4 28 2.089552239 115 Tunis 2250 4 0 4 1.777777778 116 Havana 2375 4 0 4 1.684210526 117 Beijing 12700 21 0 21 1.653543307 118 Bandung 3150 5 0 5 1.587301587 119 Daegu 2675 4 0 4 1.495327103 120 Amman 2825 4 0 4 1.415929204 121 Santa Cruz 1480 2 0 2 1.351351351 122 Dubai 1490 2 0 2 1.342281879 123 Nairobi 3100 4 0 4 1.290322581 17300 20 0 20 1.156069364 125 Yangon 4625 4 1 5 1.081081081 126 Damascus 2800 3 0 3 1.071428571 127 Valencia (Ven) 1890 2 0 2 1.058201058 124 Shanghai 128 Tokyo 33400 31 2 33 0.988023952 129 Ulan Bator 1030 1 0 1 0.970873786 130 Homs 1030 1 0 1 0.970873786 131 Seoul 23,200 22 0 22 0.948275862 132 Jakarta 14900 14 0 14 0.939597315 133 Harare 2175 2 0 2 0.91954023 134 Osaka 16600 13 2 15 0.903614458 135 Cairo 15900 14 0 14 0.880503145 136 Guadalajara 44250 34 3 37 0.836158192 137 Casablanca 3875 3 0 3 0.774193548 138 Alexandria 5050 3 0 3 0.594059406 139 Nizhni Novgorod 1700 1 0 1 0.588235294 140 Hai Phong 1814 1 0 1 0.551267916 141 Ankara 3825 2 0 2 0.522875817 21100 3 3 6 0.28436019 8250 2 0 2 0.242424242 142 Delhi 143 Nagoya 9 144 Calcutta 15500 1 2 3 0.193548387 145 Bombay 21300 2 2 4 0.187793427 146 Lahore 7850 1 0 1 0.127388535 147 Kabul 2700 no info. no info. #VALUE! 148 Algiers 4250 no info. no info. #VALUE! 149 Baku 1890 no info. no info. #VALUE! 150 Dacca 13800 no info. no info. #VALUE! 151 Cotonou 1080 no info. no info. #VALUE! 152 Ouagadougou 1170 no info. no info. #VALUE! 153 Douala 1970 no info. no info. #VALUE! 154 Kinshasa 8100 no info. no info. #VALUE! 155 Addis Abeba 3050 no info. no info. #VALUE! 156 Accra 3300 no info. no info. #VALUE! 157 Conakry 1590 no info. no info. #VALUE! 158 Port-au-Prince 2350 no info. no info. #VALUE! 159 Tegucigalpa 1120 no info. no info. #VALUE! 160 Teheran 12100 no info. no info. #VALUE! 161 Baghdad 6700 no info. no info. #VALUE! 162 Abidjan 4175 no info. no info. #VALUE! 163 Pyongyang 3650 no info. no info. #VALUE! 164 Kuwait City 1710 no info. no info. #VALUE! 165 Tripoli 1300 no info. no info. #VALUE! 166 Bamako 1710 no info. no info. #VALUE! 167 Maputo 1810 no info. no info. #VALUE! 168 Lagos 10000 no info. no info. #VALUE! 169 Karachi 14800 no info. no info. #VALUE! 170 Gaza 1480 no info. no info. #VALUE! 171 Riyadh 4725 no info. no info. #VALUE! 172 Freetown 1090 no info. no info. #VALUE! 173 Mogadishu 1330 no info. no info. #VALUE! 174 Khartoum 5800 no info. no info. #VALUE! 175 Dar es Salaam 3150 no info. no info. #VALUE! 176 Lome 1310 no info. no info. #VALUE! 177 Kampala 1470 no info. no info. #VALUE! 178 Tashkent 2350 no info. no info. #VALUE! 179 Sanaa 1910 no info. no info. #VALUE! no info. no info. #VALUE! 180 Abu Dhabi i