The five research dimensions
Every guide we publish analyzes a destination across five dimensions. These are not checkboxes. Each one requires sourced data — not editorial opinion, not community vibes, not tourism board language.
Constitutional protections, anti-discrimination law, partnership and marriage recognition, criminalization status, legal gender recognition for trans individuals.
Reported hate crime rates, police responsiveness, community safety perceptions from residents — not tourists. Trans-specific safety reported separately.
Local organizations, social infrastructure, visibility, and the difference between tourist-facing gay districts and actual resident community life.
General healthcare quality, LGBTQ+-affirming provider availability, trans healthcare pathway access, mental health resources, and insurance coverage realities.
Realistic monthly budgets for queer adults — housing, healthcare, social life. Compared against US/UK/AU benchmarks for context, not just raw numbers.
Digital nomad visas, retirement visas, residency requirements, and partnership recognition for immigration purposes.
Our fact integrity standard
- Every factual claim requires a verifiable, named source — cited adjacent to the claim, not footnoted at the bottom.
- AI inference is not a source. "Generally understood to be" is not a source.
- When a source is partial or conflicting, we say so explicitly.
- Destination safety claims are never softened by editorial optimism. If the data says there is risk, we name it.
- We do not use phrases like "vibrant LGBTQ+ community" or "welcoming" without specific evidence behind them.
What we will not publish
We will not publish guides that we cannot source. We will not soften safety findings for destinations that advertise with our sponsors — because we do not have sponsors in our editorial content. We will not describe a destination as safe for trans travelers unless we have specific data on trans safety in that destination, separate from general LGBTQ+ safety data.
If a destination has improved or worsened since our last guide, we update the guide and note the date and source of the update.