Uruguay Named Most LGBT-friendly Country In Latin America

Americas Quarterly has released its annual Social Inclusion Index, ranking countries in Latin America based on how well they serve their citizens, and Uruguay came out on top on LGBT rights.

The country also earned first place overall, thanks to strong performance in economic growth, women’s rights and job creation.

“Uruguay continues to be a model for social inclusion in Latin America,” says Americas Quarterly Editor-in-Chief Brian Winter.

“Its progress in recent years on issues including women’s empowerment and marriage equality has added to its long-standing status as a champion of egalitarian values.”

Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Uruguay since 1933, and anti-discrimination laws were put in place in 2003. Same-sex adoption came in 2009, followed by same-sex marriage four years later.

More recently, a change in government guidelines now allows transgender people to change their legal gender without undergoing surgery.

“Simply put, the country does a better job than its peers of protecting people regardless of their gender, sexual orientation or race,” writes AQ.

But activists are quick to add that the accolades don’t mean LGBT people are free from discrimination or violence in either country.

Lacking data from several sources, the study omitted U.S. and Panama—had they been included the United States would have ranked fourth, and Panama a distant 17th.

Venezuela was also excluded from the index, according to researchers, “because of concerns over quality of government data.”