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Religion and how it exists alongside LGBTQ rights and policies.

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(New York, February 19, 2018) - The rash of new "religious exemption" laws passed by state legislatures around the United States represent a thinly-veiled assault against the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. In the absence of robust nondiscrimination protections, these laws function as a license to discriminate rather than a good faith attempt to protect religious liberty and should be repealed.

The 41-page report, "'All We Want is Equality': Religious Exemptions and Discrimination against LGBT People in the United States," documents how recent laws carve out space to discriminate against LGBT people in adoption and foster care, health care, and access to some goods and services. These laws fail to balance moral and religious objections to LGBT relationships and identities with the rights of LGBT people themselves, Human Rights Watch found. The findings illustrate that these exemptions encourage discriminatory refusals, discourage LGBT people from seeking out services, and harm people's dignity.

"Describing these laws as 'exemptions' is misleading," said Ryan Thoreson, a researcher in the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. "Given the dearth of laws that protect LGBT people from discrimination in the first place, legislators are getting it exactly backwards and creating exceptions before they've ever established the rule."

Human Rights Watch interviewed 112 LGBT people, service providers, and advocates in states where religious exemptions recently have been enacted into law.

The majority of the interviews took place in three states. In Mississippi, state law permits a wide array of individuals, businesses, and service providers to discriminate based on their religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, extramarital sex, and the recognition of transgender identity. In Tennessee, a recent state law permits mental health counselors to turn away clients based on their religious beliefs. And in Michigan, adoption and foster care agencies that receive support from the state are explicitly empowered to refuse to place children with LGBT parents on account of the agencies' own moral or religious objections. Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia also have adoption and foster care exemptions in place.

Currently, only 19 states and the District of Columbia explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Another three states offer partial protections; New Hampshire and Wisconsin prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity, and Utah prohibits discrimination in employment and housing but not public accommodations. The other 28 states lack statutory provisions that explicitly prohibit discrimination against LGBT people.

In states where LGBT people lack explicit nondiscrimination protections, broad exemptions serve to powerfully reinforce the idea that adoption and foster care agencies, healthcare providers, business owners, and service providers can refuse to serve LGBT people. Erin Busk-Sutton, a lesbian woman who was turned away from a religious foster care agency in Michigan, described it as "the worst experience of my life, being told by a stranger that I wouldn't be a good mother, essentially."

Even if people are not directly refused services, religious exemptions cause LGBT people to fear discrimination and deter them from seeking services. The laws addressed by Human Rights Watch help entrench and exacerbate a climate in which LGBT people already face mistreatment and barriers to their full and equal participation in the public sphere.

"I know of people who don't even try [to seek services] for fear of being rejected," said Lisa Scheps, a transgender advocate in Texas. "And that's true of any of the rural counties in Texas."

While these laws are framed as protecting religious liberty, they are first and foremost a response to the advancement of LGBT equality - particularly the right to marry for same-sex couples. Representative Jeff Irwin, who opposed Michigan's exemptions in adoption and foster care, observed that "[t]he whole goal of this package is to allow agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples." In several instances, lawmakers rejected amendments that would have ensured the laws could not be used to discriminate against LGBT people.

The message is not lost on LGBT people living in states with license to discriminate laws. "You're being treated with disrespect, as a second-class citizen - not even a citizen, an outsider," said Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear, a lesbian woman in Mississippi.

In 2018, additional exemption bills already have been filed in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Washington. Nondiscrimination bills are pending in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Lawmakers should enact nondiscrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, education, housing, health care, and access to services, Human Rights Watch said. States with sweeping exemptions should repeal them, and legislators who are considering these bills should reject them in favor of more balanced protections that do not jeopardize the rights and well-being of LGBT people.

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United States: State Laws Threaten LGBT Equality

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(New York, February 19, 2018) - The rash of new "religious exemption" laws passed by state legislatures around the United States represent a thinly-veiled assault against the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

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Broad overview of how American LGBT lives were affected prior to the year 2010 and how they still can be affected today.

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The Political Is Personal Relationship Recognition Policies in the United States and Their Impact on Services for LGBT People

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Updated every Monday, this source offers the most up-to-date information on the laws and policies that impact LGBTQ lives in all fifty states.

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Jump to navigation Skip navigation

Last updated 4/9/2021
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in America continue to face discrimination in their daily lives. While more states every year work to pass laws to protect LGBTQ people, we continue to see state legislatures advancing bills that target transgender people, limit local protections, and allow the use of religion to discriminate.

*Note: Bills are reported as Active below if they were introduced in their states' 2020 legislative sessions and have carried over to 2021. The status date indicates the convening of the state's 2021 session or the most current activity on a particular bill.
View 2020 Session bills. View 2019 Session bills. View 2018 Session bills.
Anti-LGBTQ Bills:

Anti-Trans Bills

These measures target transgender and nonbinary people for discrimination, such as by barring or criminalizing healthcare for transgender youth, barring access to the use of appropriate facilities like restrooms, restricting transgender students' ability to fully participate in school and sports, allowing religiously-motivated discrimination against trans people, or making it more difficult for trans people to get identification documents with their name and gender.

a. Prohibiting healthcare for transgender youth

b. Single-Sex Facility Restrictions

c. Excluding transgender youth from athletics

d. Restrictions on Identification Documents

e. Other Anti-Trans bills

Religious Exemption Bills

a. Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs)

b. Religious Exemptions in Healthcare Implicating LGBTQ People

c. Religious Exemptions in Adoption & Foster Care

d. Religious Exemptions in Schools and Student Organizations

e. Other Religious Exemption Bills

Bills Pre-Empting Local Protections

These bills prevent cities and other local government entities from passing nondiscrimination protections that are more expansive than the protections offered at the state level, including protections for LGBTQ people.

Other Anti-LGBTQ Bills

LGBTQ Equality Bills
a. Nondiscrimination protections b. Protections in healthcare c. Allowing updated gender markers on ID d. Sex work decriminalization bills e. Other good bills

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Legislation Affecting LGBT Rights Across the Country

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Last updated 4/9/2021Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in America continue to face discrimination in their daily lives. While more states every year work to pass laws to protect LGBTQ people, we continue to see state legislatures advancing bills that target transgender people, limit local protections, and allow the use of religion to discriminate.

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An in-depth article that focuses on African-American LGBTQ people and the southern states that lack the most LBTQ rights in America.

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Highlights important events in LGBTQ American history since 1924.

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Here is a look at LGBTQ milestones in the United States. LGBTQ is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQIA, to include intersex and asexual groups. Queer is an umbrella term for non-straight people; intersex refers to those whose sex is not clearly defined because of genetic, hormonal, or biological differences; and asexual describes those who don't experience sexual attraction.

Timeline:

1924 - The Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is the first documented gay rights organization.

1950 - The Mattachine Society is formed by activist Harry Hay and is one of the first sustained gay rights groups in the United States. The Society focuses on social acceptance and other support for homosexuals.

April 1952 - The American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance.

April 27, 1953 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order that bans homosexuals from working for the federal government, saying they are a security risk.

September 1955 - The first known lesbian rights organization in the United States forms in San Francisco. Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). They host private social functions, fearing police raids, threats of violence and discrimination in bars and clubs.

July 1961 - Illinois becomes the first state to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws.

September 11, 1961 - The first US-televised documentary about homosexuality airs on a local station in California.

June 28, 1969 - Police raid the Stonewall Inn in New York City. Protests and demonstrations begin, and it later becomes known as the impetus for the gay civil rights movement in the United States.

June 28, 1970 - Community members in New York City march through the local streets to recognize the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. This event is named Christopher Street Liberation Day and is now considered the first gay pride parade.

1973 - Lambda Legal becomes the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. Lambda also becomes their own first client after being denied non-profit status; the New York Supreme Court eventually rules that Lambda Legal can exist as a non-profit.

January 1, 1973 - Maryland becomes the first state to statutorily ban same-sex marriage.

March 26, 1973 - First meeting of "Parents and Friends of Gays," which goes national as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 1982.

December 15, 1973 - By a vote of 5,854 to 3,810, the American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the DSM-II Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

1974 - Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly LGBTQ American elected to any public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.

1974 - Elaine Noble is the first openly gay candidate elected to a state office when she is elected to the Massachusetts State legislature.

January 14, 1975 - The first federal gay rights bill is introduced to address discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill later goes to the Judiciary Committee but is never brought for consideration.

March 1975 - Technical Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich reveals his sexual orientation to his commanding officer and is forcibly discharged from the Air Force six months later. Matlovich is a Vietnam War veteran and was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. In 1980, the Court of Appeals rules that the dismissal was improper. Matlovich is awarded his back pay and a retroactive promotion.

1976 - After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 1975, ophthalmologist and professional tennis player Renee Richards is banned from competing in the women's US Open because of a "women-born-women" rule. Richards challenges the decision and in 1977 and the New York Supreme Court rules in her favor. Richards competes in the 1977 US Open but is defeated in the first round by Virginia Wade.

October 14, 1979 - The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place. It draws an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals marching for LGBTQ rights.

March 2, 1982 - Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

1983 - Lambda Legal wins People v. West 12 Tenants Corp., the first HIV/AIDS discrimination lawsuit. Neighbors attempted to evict Dr. Joseph Sonnabend from the building because he was treating HIV-positive patients.

October 11, 1988 - The first National Coming Out Day is observed.

November 1995 - The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act goes into effect as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law allows a judge to impose harsher sentences if there is evidence showing that a victim was selected because of the "actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person."

September 21, 1996 - President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."

December 3, 1996 - Hawaii's Judge Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.

April 1997 - Comedian Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian on the cover of Time magazine, stating, "Yep, I'm Gay."

April 30, 1997 - DeGeneres' character, Ellen Morgan, on her self-titled TV series "Ellen," becomes the first leading character to come out on a prime-time network television show.

October 6-7, 1998 - Matthew Shepard is tied to a fence and beaten near Laramie, Wyoming. He is eventually found by a cyclist, who initially mistakes him for a scarecrow. He later dies due to his injuries sustained in the beating.

October 9, 1998 - Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney from Laramie, Wyoming, make their first court appearance after being arrested for the attempted murder of Shepard. Eventually, they each receive two life sentences for killing Shepard.

June 2003 - The US Supreme Court strikes down the "homosexual conduct" law, which decriminalizes same-sex sexual conduct, with their opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision also reverses Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld Georgia's sodomy law.

May 17, 2004 - The first legal same-sex marriage in the United States takes place in Massachusetts.

September 6, 2005 - The California legislature becomes the first to pass a bill allowing marriage between same-sex couples. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes the bill.

October 25, 2006 - The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

May 15, 2008 - The California Supreme Court rules in re: Marriage Cases that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.

November 4, 2008 - Voters approve Proposition 8 in California, which makes same-sex marriage illegal. The proposition is later found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge.

August 12, 2009 - Milk is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

October 28, 2009 - Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.

September 20, 2011 - "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed, ending a ban on gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

May 9, 2012 - In an ABC interview,Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the freedom for LGBTQ couples to marry.

September 4, 2012 - The Democratic Party becomes the first major US political party in history to publicly support same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.

November 6, 2012 - Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay politician and the first Wisconsin woman to be elected to the US Senate.

June 26, 2013 - In United States v. Windsor, the US Supreme Court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. The high court also dismisses a case involving California's proposition 8.

October 6, 2014 - The United States Supreme Court denies review in five different marriage cases, allowing lower court rulings to stand, and therefore allowing same-sex couples to marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The decision opens the door for the right to marry in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.

May 17, 2016 - The Senate confirms Eric Fanning to be secretary of the Army, making him the first openly gay secretary of a US military branch. Fanning previously served as Defense Secretary Carter's chief of staff, and also served as undersecretary of the Air Force and deputy undersecretary of the Navy.

June 30, 2016 - Secretary of Defense Carter announces that the Pentagon is lifting the ban on transgender people serving openly in the US military.

November 9, 2016 - Kate Brown is sworn in as governor of Oregon, a day after she was officially elected to the office. Brown becomes the highest-ranking LGBTQ person elected to office in the United States. Brown took over the governorship in February 2016 (without an election), after Democrat John Kitzhaber resigned amidst a criminal investigation.

April 4, 2017 - The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against LGBTQ employees, after Kimberly Hively sues Ivy Tech Community College for violating Title VII of the act by denying her employment.

June 27, 2017 - District of Columbia residents can now choose a gender-neutral option of their driver's license. DC residents become the first people in the United States to be able to choose X as their gender marker instead of male or female on driver's licenses and identification cards. Similar policies exist in Canada, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal.

June 30, 2017 - The US Department of Defense announces a six-month delay in allowing transgendered individuals to enlist in the United States military. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis writes that they "will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality." Approximately a month later, President Donald Trump announces via Twitter that the "United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military..."

November 7, 2017 - Virginia voters elect the state's first openly transgender candidate to the Virginia House of Delegates. Danica Roem unseats incumbent delegate Bob Marshall, who had been elected 13 times over 26 years. Roem becomes the first openly transgender candidate elected to a state legislature in American history.

February 26, 2018 - The Pentagon confirms that the first transgender person has signed a contract to join the US military.

November 6, 2018 - Democratic US Representative Jared Polis wins the Colorado governor's race, becoming the nation's first openly gay man to be elected governor.

June 30, 2019 - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signs a law banning the use of the so-called gay and trans panic legal defense strategy. The tactic asks a jury to find that a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for a defendant's violent reaction. New York follows California, Rhode Island, Illinois, Nevada and Connecticut as the sixth state to pass such a law.

February 10, 2020 - The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a ruling that the state of Idaho must provide gender confirmation surgery for Adree Edmo, an inmate in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction. The ruling marks the first time a federal appeals court has ruled that a state must provide gender assignment surgery to an incarcerated person. According to the court opinion, "the gender confirmation surgery (GCS) was medically necessary for Edmo, and ordered the State to provide the surgery." In July 2020, Edmo receives her gender confirmation surgery and a May 2020 appeal by Attorney General of Idaho, Lawrence Wasden, is denied as moot by the US Supreme Court in October 2020.

August 26, 2020 - The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of former student, Gavin Grimm in a more than four-year fight over restroom policies for transgender students. The ruling states that policies segregating transgender students from their peers is unconstitutional and violate federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The decision relies in part on the Supreme Court's decision in June 2020, stating that discrimination against people based on their gender identity or sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2021, the Supreme Court chooses not to review the opinion by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

February 2, 2021 - Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate.

March 24, 2021 - Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services becomes the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

June 21, 2021 - Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman with the Las Vegas Raiders, becomes the first active NFL player in league history to announce that he is gay.

June 30, 2021 - The State Department announces it will be updating its procedures to allow applicants to self-select their sex marker for passports and that it "will no longer require medical certification" if an applicant's self-selected sex marker doesn't match the sex listed on other official identity documents.

October 27, 2021 - The State Department announces that the US has issued the first US passport with an X gender marker. "As the Secretary announced in June, the Department is moving towards adding an X gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a U.S. passport or CRBA," State spokesperson Ned Price says in a statement.

October 19, 2022 - The Social Security Administration announces that people can now choose their sex marker in their Social Security records.

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LGBTQ Rights Milestones Fast Facts | CNN

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Here is a look at LGBTQ milestones in the United States. LGBTQ is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQIA, to include intersex and asexual groups.

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An interactive and user-friendly diagram that allows the reader to quickly compare states' LGBTQ rights.

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Gay rights laws in America have evolved to allow - but in some cases ban - rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people on a range of issues, including marriage, hospital visitation, adoption, housing, employment and school bullying. The handling of gay rights issues vary by state and follow trends by region

Updated 26 June 2015

·Supreme court: gay marriage legal across the US - live updates

This article was archived on 18 October 2021. Some elements may be out of date.

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Gay rights laws in America have evolved to allow - but in some cases ban - rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people on a range of issues, including marriage, hospital visitation, adoption, housing, employment and school bullying. The handling of gay rights issues vary by state and follow trends by region.

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A source that goes by topic instead of state. All fifty states are linked below to further explore specific LGBTQ rights in a certain state.

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Suggest Public Opinion Data

LGBT employment discrimination in United States is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

As of June 15th, 2020 the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal under Title VII the Civil Rights Act of 1964, classified as sex discrimination.

As of June 15, 2020, all persons working for employers that employ more than 15 people are protected from discrimination based solely on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity via the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

As of June 15, 2020, all persons working for employers that employ more than 15 people are protected from discrimination based solely on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity via the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia

Sexual orientation and gender identity

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that "[A]llegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex", and are barred by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This ruling applies at both the state and federal level.

Furthermore, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled on April 20, 2012 that an employer who discriminates against an employee or applicant on the basis of the person's gender identity is violating the prohibition on sex discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled on April 20, 2012 that an employer who discriminates against an employee or applicant on the basis of the person's gender identity is violating the prohibition on sex discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Serving openly in military in United States is legal.

Blood donations by MSMs in United States is legal.

Banned (3-month deferral)

The FDA announced changes to blood donor eligibility policy on 2nd April 2020, reducing the MSM deferral period from 12 months to 3 months, it is not legally binding but most agencies and the American Red Cross treat it as such.

Banned (indefinite deferral)

Though the deferral impacts all MSMs who have had sex with a man since 1977, the policy did not go into effect until 1983. The policy applied retroactively to 1977.

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LGBT Rights in United States: homosexuality, gay marriage, gay adoption, serving in the military, sexual orientation discrimination protection, changing legal gender, donating blood, age of consent, and more.

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A great source for teachers in America who are looking for tips on creating an inclusive classroom and want to better understand LGBTQ policies in schools.

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Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

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A visual source that explains the fight LGBTQ people are still battling today despite the marriage law in 2015.

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From battles about bathrooms to marriage, it can often seem like LGBTQ rights are a truly controversial aspect of American politics. But among the majority of Americans, the debate seems to be over.

A new poll of more than 2,000 US adults, conducted in February by the Public Religion Research Institute, reached very clear conclusions: Across the board, a majority of US adults are supportive of LGBTQ rights - whether it's marriage, nondiscrimination laws, or bathroom access for transgender people. Most of the country is now supportive of these basic rights.

Here are some of the results in the poll, broken down by the big issues of the day.

More than six in 10 Americans support marriage equality

PRRI found, "After plateauing in 2015, support for same-sex marriage has accelerated through 2016 and into early 2017. Today, more than six in ten (63%) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally. As recently as 2013, only slightly more than half (52%) the public backed same-sex marriage nationally."

Most Americans, regardless of party, support civil rights laws that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations

Most Americans oppose laws that ban transgender people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity

One explanation for the findings: More Americans have close social contact with out gay people today

And more Americans - although still a minority - have close social contact with out trans people today

Finally, Americans just have more knowledge about trans issues

PRRI noted, "Today, more than eight in ten (84%) Americans say they know what the term transgender means. In 2011, seven in ten (70%) said they fully understood the term transgender, while roughly one-quarter (24%) knew the term but not what it meant and another 5% had never heard the term before."

This is how LGBTQ advocacy groups built support for same-sex marriage and plan to continue building support for other LGBTQ causes: by showing the public that LGBTQ Americans are just normal people who just happen to identify with a different sexual orientation or gender identity. Given PRRI's findings, that seems to be working - and the majority of Americans are already on board with LGBTQ equality.

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Most Americans support LGBTQ rights across the board

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From battles about bathrooms to marriage, it can often seem like LGBTQ rights are a truly controversial aspect of American politics. But among the majority of Americans, the debate seems to be over.

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A valuable source that offers a plethora of various LGBTQ maps of the United States.

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The Movement Advancement Project is an independent think tank that provides rigorous research, insight and analysis that help speed equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

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A diagram of LGBTQ discrimination laws in the United States. If you click on a state you can view that state's timeline of LGBTQ policies and relevant court cases.

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States with No LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Protections

In 28 states, there are no explicit statewide laws at all protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations:

States with Non-Discrimination Laws Lacking Gender Identity Protections

In 1 state, state law protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations - but there are no explicit protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

States with Some LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Protections

While state law in Utah protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing, the state has no public accommodations statues.

States with Full LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Protections

In 20 states and the District of Columbia, state law protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations:

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LGBTQ Americans Aren't Fully Protected From Discrimination in 30 States

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In 28 states, there are no explicit statewide laws at all protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations: In 1 state, state law protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations - but there are no explicit protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.