Research by online dating website PlanetRomeo has found that some 4 million gay men were victim of serious physical violence in 2014, and that 13 million have been banned from their family home.

The groundbreaking Gay Happiness Index (GHI) survey, conducted with the University of Mainz, Germany, interviewed 115,000 people from 127 countries, looking into gay living situations, how gay men feel, and how they are treated, comparable on a country level.

A third of all countries still view homosexuality as a crime, and in seven countries it is punishable by death. Assuming 2.5 per cent of all people are gay men, then there are at least 175 million of them on the planet. When applying the survey results to the entire world population, the estimated outcome is shocking:

  • 4 million gay men were victim of serious physical violence in 2014
  • 13 million were banned from their family home
  • 41 million want to escape their home country
  • 66 million are not out to their parents

The Gay Happiness Index is set to be officially launched on launched 17 May 2015, the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHOT).

Jens Schmidt, CEO of PlanetRomeo says: ‘Until now it was just not possible to ask gay men directly about their personal lives, on a global scale. The spreading of the internet, and the reach of gay dating platforms like ours, allows us to change this.’

‘Contrary to what the index name implies, the situation is anything but happy.’

The detailed results, on a country level, will be made available as open source and downloadable for free, with plan to repeat the survey in the future.

‘We hope that the data is helpful for everyone who takes part in the fight for human rights for LGBT people worldwide,’ says Marc van Zijp, GHI Project Manager.