Sexy City Index: The World’s most sexually liberal cities.

As we observe the annual LGBTQI+ awareness day — National Coming Out Day (NCOD) — on 11 October, we consider a recent study by LUST Mag which reveals the top 25 cities worldwide offering the best conditions for a sex-positive life.

• Taking the top spot in the rankings, perhaps unsurprisingly, is liberal mecca New York City.
• Germany, home of Lustmag and very progressive views towards sex and the sex industry is represented twice in the top 3 cities, with Cologne in second place and Berlin in third place.
• Interestingly, all cities in the top 10 are located in North America or Europe.

Just in time for National Coming Out Day 2021 on October 11, the ‘sexperts’ at Erobella and LUST Mag have published a study ranking the World’s 25 most sexually open-minded cities. The result is the Sexy City Index.

In order to create a ranking of the 25 most sex-positive cities worldwide, the first step was to determine which cities where the most inclusive when it comes to sex. There were 62 cities around the world in which ten factors were evaluated in the fields of “public space”, “queer events” and “legal situation” to draw conclusions about the social and legal acceptance of sexuality in its many forms. The inclusion of the LGBTQI+ community acts as a particularly important indicator, since equality dictates that it should be on a par with the heteronormative one. As such, it feels fitting that the ranking of most sexually liberal cities is led by New York City, the birthplace of Christopher Street Day, the first ever Pride event.

The city that never sleeps also has the largest number of self-proclaimed gay bars in the world. Within a radius of ten kilometers you can choose between 176 different bars.

In total, 13 North American cities are represented in the top 25. Germany is only represented twice, but right at the top: Cologne occupies second place and Berlin third place. This is thanks in part to the significant number of queer events which take place each year in Cologne, more than any other city in the list. Berlin took third place in the rankings thanks to its relatively large number of gay bars and sex shops and both German cities are shown to be way ahead when it comes to their more liberal legal views on sexuality.

Worldwide, Amsterdam offers the best anti-discrimination laws and protection for a sex-positive life. However, despite its seminal (no pun intended!) annual Pride event, the Dutch city hosts less regular LGBTQI+ events and offers less options when it comes to gay bars and sex shops in comparison to other cities in the list, hence its ranking of eighth place. Paris, the city of love, can be found in twelfth place on the Sexy City Index.

Further findings:

• With the exception of the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney and South American city Santiago in Chile, all cities are in the top 25 either in North America or Europe.
• Spain is the only European country besides Germany that is represented twice in the ranking, by Madrid and Barcelona.
• Rome and Santiago are the only cities in the ranking where same-sex marriages are not legally recognized.
• Santiago is the only city that requires gender reassignment surgery to change one’s legal gender. This is not the case in any of the other top 25 countries.