Eurovision song winner Conchita Wurst made it to a forum on gay rights in Malta with the Swedish integration minister saying her victory would not have been possible 10 years ago.

Conchita was obviously not present but Erik Ullenhag, who addressed the Idaho 2014 forum in Valletta this afternoon, used her victory as an example of how people across Europe have changed.

The difference between the popular vote in many countries that gave Conchita top marks and the jury vote that shunned the song, showed how society has changed, he added.

However, he did note there was a worrying trend of increasing homophobia in some countries, including homophobic politicians.

Idaho is a forum that brings together governments and civil society. This is only the second such event and it is being organised by the Maltese and Swedish governments.

Mr Ullenhag described Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli as "a brave politician and role model".

"Thanks to her work, today Malta and Sweden can work together on LGBT rights, unlike a couple of years ago when both countries had significant differences," he said.

Dr Dalli said that whereas both countries may have been oceans apart, they were now "a sea apart".

She insisted that the changes Malta has undergone over the past year - allowing transgender people to marry and the civil unions law - were not only about rights but improving the daily lives of people who were largely ignored.

The forum will include a presentation of last year's survey on gay rights across Europe.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat welcomed delegates to a 'new Malta' that embraced diversity. He said the progress Malta had made on the gay rights index was a result of the government's commitment to change things.

He insisted it was time to stamp out homophobia and transphobia.

Cyrus Engerer, government's consultant on LGBT rights, was in the audience.

Malta top improver in gay scoresheet

Malta topped the list as the country that advanced the most in gay rights since last year, according the Rainbow Map published by ILGA-Europe, a gay advocacy group.

Gabi Calleja, the co-chair of ILGA, said Malta had an improvement of 22 percentage points.

The new scoresheet was released this afternoon at the Idaho forum.

Malta now ranks with a 57 per cent rating, up from 35 per cent, in the rights available to the LGBT community analysed by ILGA.