RICE 2020 : Rainbow Index of Churches in Europe 2020

P. d'Alo, R. Stockdale, R. Brouwer, H. Zorgdrager

This reserach report presents an 'inclusivity index', an index consisting of 47 indicators to measure the inclusivity of churches, which has been made operational as a questionnaire. Next to the index is an analysis of the 2020 data the questionnaire generated. The index, together with the analysis of the 2020 questionnaire data, constitute the first annual report on the LGBTI inclusivity of European churches. The research results are primarily displayed as scores transposed into rankings. The focus is on three major church families (the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and Protestant churches). The vast majority of churches in this research is connected to one of these church families. Data on a few churches that are part of other denominations has also been gathered. Then the analysis is put of individual national churches, who are part of their respective church families, in the context of their country's identity and national politics on LGBTI issues. 'Country reports' have been created on Eastern Partnership countries, on countries in Northern and Western Europe, and in Southern Europe, and also on countries with 'traditional values and human rights' challenges. There is a specific chapter on churches' inclusivity regarding transgender persons.