Road trip: 10 American states LGBTQ travelers are safest and 10 to drive through fast

You're driving through the United States and you're queer. By crossing a state border, you may find yourself at more risk (or less comfortable) than you were a few miles ago. It's good to know the variety of LGBTQ laws and cultural tendencies in American states when you prepare for your road trip.

In the Spartacus Gay Travel Index for the USA, 50 American states have been ranked based on their LGBTQ rights legislation and other factors that could make life more or less difficult for people who are not heterosexual. Its map colors the states from green (most welcoming) to red (most hostile), just like a traffic light.

Image: spartacus.gayguide.travel

While we only reveal the top and bottom 10 states in the ranking here, the website is like a 'Green Book' for the queer community today. Among other things, the Spartacus Index looks at censorship laws concerning LGBTQ school materials and books; the possibility of protection through hate crime laws in each state; and the number of violent crimes committed against LGBTQ people in the past year.

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The ten safest, most comfortable states for gay travelers have New York as their number one. The state scored 14 points, which means it is the most inclusive state for the LGBTQ community.

A score of 14 points is pretty high. New York State has more points in the Spartacus Gay Travel Index than the national averages of the world's highest-ranking countries. Portugal, Spain, Malta, Canada, and New Zealand, all sharing the number-one spot in the world, tied at 12 points in the index.

California obtained a score of 13, ranking second along with three other states discussed below. It's not surprising, as the state has been considered very liberal in terms of LGBTQ protection and culture since the 1970s.

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Colorado also scored 13 points. Civil unions between people of the same sex have been legal in this state since 2013. In the Spartacus Index, Colorado also scored high on transgender rights.

This is the third state with a score of 13. Nevada shares with New York and California the highest score for Queer Infrastructure, meaning that its facilities for the LGBTQ community to meet and interact are excellent.

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The fourth state sharing second place with 13 points is Oregon. In this state, discrimination of any kind based on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited.

The state of Washington scored 12 points, which means that it is quite a safe place for LGBTQ travelers. In fact, with this score, Washington matches the overall safest countries in the world.

The same goes for Washington DC. The federal capital scored 12 points after weighing all categories in favor and against LGBTQ travel safety.

Next on the list is Illinois with 11 points. The difference with the higher-ranking states is that instead of 1 point for 'Hostile Locals', it has 0 points. This means that in terms of violence aimed at people from the LGBTQ community, Illinois scores a bit worse than the leading states.

Massachusetts scored 11 points. It has slightly lower results for the 'Gay and Trans Panic Defense' category. This means that someone on trial for violence against a member of the LGBTQ community is a bit more likely in Massachusetts than in other states to get acquitted in court using the argument that they committed the crime because they were frightened by the victim's sexual orientation.

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Sharing a score of 11 with Illinois and Massachusetts, New Jersey is considered progressive in terms of LGBTQ rights. Since the late '60s, discrimination against gays has been severely punished, and since 2013, they have been able to get married in the state.

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As opposed to the green states, the Spartacus Gay Travel Index colors quite a few American states orange or red. These areas are less safe and comfortable for LGBTQ travelers to visit, Spartacus indicates.

The scores for several states have gone down since the Trump presidency, as they have introduced censorship of LGBTQ reading materials, laws against gender-affirming health care for transgender people, and prohibitions of drag performances, for example. CNN reports that a "record number of anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in 2023."

Florida has been one of the visible examples in this recent trend. It is among the bottom ten states in the Spartacus Gay Travel Index. Examples of its anti-LGBTQ legislation are the 'Don't Say Gay' law for schools and its ban of school books about LGBTQ topics. The score for Florida is minus 2.

North Carolina also scored -2 in the Spartacus Index. It recently passed laws to censor the school curriculum and prohibit trans students from participating in sports teams of their gender identity.

Just like Florida and North Carolina, the state of North Dakota scored -2 in the Spartacus Travel Index. In April 2023, the state advanced a "record-setting 10 anti-LGBTQ bills in one day," the organization Human Rights Campaign told NBC. They included the prohibitions of drag performances and transgender-related health care for young people.

Bordering state South Dakota also has a score of -2. It stands out among the bottom ten for its permission of 'conversion therapy,' a pseudoscientific practice trying to make LGBTQ people straight.

The sixth-lowest country in the Spartacus ranking is West Virginia with a score of minus 3. It allows conversion therapy, like South Dakota, but it also has a lower score for 'Hostile Locals,' meaning that there has been more violent crime against gay people in the state.

Further below zero is Alabama with -4. The state has a 'Don't Say Gay' law that is similar to Florida's. Legislators are trying to expand that law in 2024 with a ban on Pride flags and conversations about LGBTQ issues in all K-12 grades, AP reports.

At the same level as Alabama is the neighboring state of Mississippi. Its minus-4 score is based, among other things, on censorship, conversion therapy, and 'hostile locals'.

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Tennessee was the first state in 2023 to ban drag shows. Its Senate passed a bill to limit 'adult cabaret performances' in public "so as to shield them from the view of children," CNN reported. Along with Alabama and Mississippi, Tennessee scores -4 points.

The second-lowest score in the US is that of Montana. You may not realize it, but the Big Sky Country has a worse track record than the southern states we mentioned. Its total score is -5 with low numbers across the board. One of its remarkable recent initiatives is the obligation to identify people as male or female at birth - something that cannot be changed - since 2023.

And then we get to the state with the lowest score in the US: Oklahoma with minus 6 points. It performs particularly badly when it comes to censorship of LGBTQ visibility in schools and public places, the Spartacus Index suggests.

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Oklahoma may not be a surprising bottom state in the Spartacus Travel Index if we take into account the shocking death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict in February 2024. The nonbinary student and a transgender friend were attacked by fellow students at Owasso High School in Oklahoma. Benedict died of the injuries the next day. As CNN reports, crisis calls from distressed LGBTQ youth in Oklahoma, thinking about taking their lives for fear of bullying, increased by 238% in the weeks after Benedict's death.

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To put the low scores of the bottom states in an international perspective, Oklahoma has the same score in the Spartacus Index as the countries of Armenia, Benin, Georgia (in Eastern Europe), Mali, and Sri Lanka. Much lower are the scores of the global bottom countries though, with minus 21 for Saudi Arabia and Iran, minus 18 for Uganda, and -17 for Russia.

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