From ski stars to footballers, songstresses in the equivalent to Sweden’s royal lesbians, authors, comedians. Two ministers make the cut, too, and a king.

In March, Sweden scored top gong as the world’s most gay friendly holiday destination in the Gay Travel Index, which compared 128 countries.

“In the new Gay Travel Index we include factors other than the current legal position for homosexuals”, explained editor-in-chief Briand Bedford in a statement.

IN PICTURES: Top ten loud, proud and gay Swedes

“These factors are for example the state of gay marriage and adoption or the entry restrictions for HIV-positive people as well as religious influence on governments, the ban of Pride parades and specific marketing activities for gay and lesbian tourists.”

Sweden scored highest of all in the anti-discrimination legislation category – the only nation to be awarded a maximum three points.

Government organization Visit Sweden welcomed the news.

“We are very happy to hear that Sweden once again is considered a progressive, open and caring country – which is also an image of Sweden that we want to emphasize,” Bitte Olsson, Corporate Communication Manager at Visit Sweden, told The Local.

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