Cologne Named Most Sexually Liberated City

Cologne’s array of gay bars and LGBT events bumped it to the top of a global most sexually liberated cities list

23 annual LGBT events, four gay pride festivals, 17 gay bars, and 19 sex shops propelled Germany’s Cologne to the top of the world’s most sexually liberated cities list, compiled by a German magazine.

West Hollywood, California, takes the second place, with the Netherland’s Amsterdam, Spain’s Madrid, and Germany’s capital city of Berlin completing the top five.

German-based Lust Magazine evaluated each major city’s LGBT scene, assigning points based on the number of gay bars, sex shops, and LGBT events per capita in each location. It also examined the legal standing of gay and non-traditional sexualities, rewarding the most permissive jurisdictions.

This year, Cologne’s array of gay bars and LGBT events bumped it to the top of a global list.

Gay couples can marry in Germany, prostitution is legal, and Germans can legally change their gender without surgery. In Cologne, the city’s left-wing council has had an ‘LGBT office’ since 2010.

“Cologne is world famous for its carnival and cathedral,” Lust Magazine’s report said. “But for many residents of this cosmopolitan, tolerant city, sex is the new religion.”

“The city on the Rhine is a true model of liberality and openness, especially in the sexual sense, and residents wholeheartedly welcome like-minded visitors who share their values. Rather than insisting on equality, Cologne celebrates everyone’s uniqueness.”

Cologne has not always been a gay mecca The city is the historic center of German Catholicism, and while Hitler’s NSDAP struggled to establish a foothold in Cologne in the 1930s, social conservatism ruled the city for decades after World War II.

More recently, Cologne authorities were condemned for their tepid response to more than 1,000 rapes and sexual assaults by Middle Eastern and African migrants during the 2015-2016 New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Cologne’s Mayor Henriette Reker was re-elected to her post in 2020, despite causing a major uproar after telling women in the city to travel in groups and “keep at arm’s length” from strange men following the spree of assaults by foreign migrants.