Best and Worst Countries to be LGBT in Europe

— -- A gay man was found dead at his apartment in Azerbaijan in February last year. In May, a trans woman was beaten and robbed by two men and, at the end of the year, a trans person was stabbed in the throat near a metro station in the capital Baku.

These are just a few of several violent attacks targeting LGBT people in the nation of Azerbaijan last year, according to ILGA-Europe, the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

“Contrary to popular belief, LGBTI equality is far from being a done deal in Europe,” ILGA-Europe executive director Evelyne Paradis said speaking Tuesday in Copenhagen at the launch of the new index. “The picture is actually very mixed at the moment.”

One in four LGBTI people who live in the European Union have faced violence, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

The new ILGA-Europe Rainbow Index ranks 49 European countries based on practices, laws and policies that have an impact on LGBTI people. This includes documented acts of violence.

After reviewing those policies and incidents from 2015, the Rainbow Index ranked the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan as the worst place to live as an LGBTI person in Europe. Several murders were reported and investigated in the country throughout 2015 and many other violent attacks were carried out targeting LGBT people.

Russia and Armenia are also at the bottom of the Rainbow Index.

The UK, Malta and Belgium are the best countries to live for LGBTI people, according to the index.