Auld Reekie: glad to be gay?

Edinburgh features in world’s top 30 LGBT+ friendly cities

• Madrid is top in the 2017 Best LGBT Cities List, scoring an impressive 23.56 out of a possible 25

• Berlin ranks first in the LGBT nightlife category but only sixth overall, held back by LGBT rights laws in Germany

• Tel Aviv is the highest ranking city outside of Europe and North America, ranking as the fourth best LGBT city

Furnished housing aggregator, Nestpick, has conducted one of the largest studies of its kind, researching the world’s best cities for the LGBT+ community. Five factors were investigated in order to understand which cities offer the best quality of life for those who identify under the LGBT initials. Nestpick conducted the study as part of Pride Month, releasing the results on June 28th, an important date historically for the gay liberation movement, marking the 48th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

To make the list truly comprehensive and inclusive, thousands of cities were considered in the development stage. Polls were conducted amongst the LGBT community in 80 countries, using social media and other polling tools. More than 2,500 participants from each city were asked to give three lifestyle factors a rating out of five: the strength of their city’s gay dating scene, the quality of its LGBT nightlife, and the openness of their fellow citizens. A final shortlist of the 100 cities with the best poll results was then created.

Two additional categories were measured for the cities in the final shortlist: safety and the rights of LGBT citizens. These factors were included in order to recognise that although some cities offer an attractive lifestyle, a lot may still need to be done to protect people from hate crime and to give them equal rights. Information on the rights of LGBT citizens at a national level was provided by national and regional governments of each country, and data regarding the safety of the LGBT community was provided by local and national authorities.

“It’s no coincidence that the world’s most exciting cities have a strong LGBT community, contributing much to the dynamism, openness and prosperity which defines locations such as Madrid, Amsterdam and Berlin”, said Ömer Kücükdere, Managing Director of Nestpick.

The ten top scoring cities worldwide are:

Rank	City	Dating Scene	LGBT Nightlife	Openness in the City	Safety Score	LGBT Rights	Total
1	Madrid	4.63	4.87	4.87	4.19	5	23.56
2	Amsterdam	4.81	4.66	4.72	4.07	5	23.26
3	Toronto	4.60	4.57	4.78	3.74	5	22.69
4	Tel Aviv	4.72	4.81	4.81	4.23	4	22.57
5	London	4.94	4.97	4.94	2.61	5	22.46
6	Berlin	4.97	5.00	4.97	3.95	3	21.89
7	Brighton	4.15	4.45	4.66	3.54	5	21.80
8	Barcelona	4.84	4.78	4.75	2.41	5	21.78
9	New York City	5.00	4.94	4.91	2.85	4	21.70
10	San Francisco	4.75	4.84	5.00	3.02	4	21.61

Click here for the full list of 100 cities: https://www.nestpick.com/best-lgbt-cities/

Edinburgh scored 19.33 points out of a possible 25 and ranked in position 29 out of a possible 100, with the following scores and rankings:

As scores for LGBT Rights were between 1-5 as whole figures, many cities scored the same amount. A ranking was therefore not included above, with many locations having tied in score.

10 UK cities were included in the ranking, with the following results: