| Summary: | Recently, we have seen a proliferation of maps visualising the global state of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, plus (LGBTQI+) rights. Whilst they represent a productive advocacy tool for activists, we critically examine the politics embedded and reinforced by the way indexes are constructed and represented. By exploring the discrepancies between the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Maps and the lived experiences of LGBTQI+ people within Europe, we argue that these maps reproduce hierarchies often mediated by Eurocentric understandings of linear progress, while discounting the importance that an interpenetration of legal and social aspects has in evaluating national contexts in which LGBTQI+ persons live. The emphasis on legislative frameworks, thus, in part displaces lived experiences of LGBTQI+ people in Europe – projecting both Queer Utopias and Dystopias onto different geographical localities feeding into existing homonationalist discourses. With such findings, we argue against the fetishization of legislation within LGBTQI+ activism and academia.
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