Belgium

Categories Score

The full bar chart stands for 100%, and is filled by the country category score. The colour display uses the traffic light palette, with Green representing a score closer to 100% and Red a score closer to 0%.

ASYLUM

This category looks into laws that expressly include SOGISC as a qualification criteria for seeking asylum. We also take into account other legislation, policies, instruction or positive measures by state actors that are related to asylum addressing the needs and rights of LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees.

Civil Society Space

This category is about laws, policies and practices that allow for full exercise of freedom of assembly, association and expression for LGBTI people.

Intersex Bodily Integrity

The criteria under this category covers prohibition of any kind of surgical or medical intervention on an intersex minor before child is able to give informed consent. We additionally take into account if this prohibition is universal to all persons, establishes a monitoring mechanism and provides access to justice for victims and reparations.

Legal Gender Recognition

The category looks at laws and policies that ensure legal gender recognition for trans, non-binary and intersex people and the requirements and preconditions to access these procedures.

Hate Crime & Hate Speech

We look into laws that include sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in the hate crime and hate speech legislation as an aggravating factor. The category also takes into account the recurrent and continuing policies tackling hatred.

Equality & Non Discrimination

This category looks into effective anti-discrimination legislation that explicitly includes sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. We also take into consideration laws and policies banning conversion practices and allowing LGBTI people to donate blood. In addition to legislation, we look into effectively working equality bodies and well-implemented action plans.

Family

This category looks into recognition and protection of LGBTI people’s family rights with consideration of laws on marriage equality, registered partnership, adoption, medically assisted insemination, and trans parenthood.

Criteria Compliance Ratio

Each pie charts stands for a category and is divided in slices by criteria. When a country complies with a criteria – fully or in some regions – the slice is coloured.

Keep in mind the criteria have different weighting factor within a category; for example, the criteria Prohibition of medical intervention without informed consent (intersex) stands for half (2.5%) of the INTERSEX BODILY INTEGRITY category weighting factor (5%). Meaning that even if a country can only comply with this specific criteria within the category (1/4 total criteria) the category scores 50%.

More information on the categories and criteria weighting factors here.

Category & Criteria Table

The table lists detailed information and insights on legislation supporting each criterion status. Please use the filters for in-depth analysis.

n/a = not applicable, meaning the criteria didn’t exist in the previous Rainbow Map edition (PROGRESSION column)

  • Complies
  • Applicable in some regions only
  • Does not Comply
Category
Criteria
Status
Change since 2023
Name of Law / Documents / Institution
Date of Adoption
Date of Coming into Effect
Specific Article of Reference
Additional Information

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to improve the legal and policy situation of LGBTI people in Belgium, ILGA-Europe recommend:

  • Prohibiting medical interventions on intersex minors when the intervention has no medical necessity and can be avoided or postponed until the person can provide informed consent.
  • Increasing sentencing for hate crimes: advocating for judges to impose higher sentences for bias-motivated crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics as well as reforming Article 150 of the Constitution to bring bias-motivated crimes before a correctional court.
  • Ensuring that legal gender recognition is accessible for all without age restrictions, and includes access for non-binary individuals.

Annual Review of Belgium

In our Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe and Central Asia, we examine the advances made and provide concrete examples of on-the-ground situations at national level country-by-country in the 12 months from January to December 2023.

Read our Annual Review of Belgium below for more details and stories behind the Rainbow Map. You can also download the Annual Review chapter (.pdf) covering Belgium.

The full Annual Review for 2024 is available here.

Country Score Evolution

Year

See also

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The Frontline: The Rainbow Map – Behind the Ranking

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Skills Boost: Data visualisation for LGBTI communication

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Benchmarking LGBTI rights: Behind the scenes with ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map

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Trans and intersex rights at the forefront of positive change for LGBTI people in Europe, Rainbow Map finds

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Report

Rainbow Europe Map and Index 2023

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EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy – Second year implementation evaluation

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EU Enlargement Review 2023

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Article

Activists on Accession to the EU

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Hungary to be Brought Before Top EU Court For its Ban on LGBTI Content

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Children born intersex are at risk in most European countries. Here’s why

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Rainbow Europe Map shows countries pushing forward with LGBTI rights as democracy is confronted

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Report

Rainbow Europe Map and Index 2022

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A New Dynamic Has Appeared in LGBTI Rights Across Europe, Rainbow Map Reveals

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EU Ministers must act on the serious breach of EU’s rule of law and values in Poland

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Media

Hope and the LGBTI Movement in 2021

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Article

EU Holds Firm in Face of Hungary’s Blatant Lies Surrounding Anti-LGBTI Law

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Report

EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy – First year implementation evaluation

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Report

Policy Briefing on LGBTI Refugees and EU asylum legislation

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Article

Where are my rights? These essential maps chart the recognition of LGBTI people across the globe

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Article

Joint Statement: Current priorities for an EU response to the situation in Afghanistan

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Article

With today’s infringements the EU has clarified that member states can no longer act against human rights with impunity

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Article

Europe’s leading LGBTI rights organisation calls on EU to act as Hungarian parliament adopts legislation censoring communication about LGBTI people

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Media

The Frontline: Mapping LGBTI Rights in Europe

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Article

No news is not always good news: the deadlock on LGBTI rights in Europe

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Article

Time for a reboot on LGBTI rights in Europe as Rainbow Map reveals a disturbing stand-still

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Report

Rainbow Europe Map and Index 2021

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Media

Rainbow Family Rights in Europe – Part 6: The Future

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Article

The lived realities of LGBTI people in every single EU country show that it’s not yet an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone

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Article

Is The EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone? 

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Article

Joint manifesto for an inclusive and comprehensive eu gender-based violence policy for all

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Report

The Frontline: 2020 – The EU & LGBTI Equality in an Extraordinary Year

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