Updated the First of every Month 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in America face discrimination in their daily lives.  A majority of states don’t have explicit laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.  While more states every year strive to pass laws to protect their citizens from discrimination and advance LGBTQ equality, we continue to see lawmakers sponsor bills that invoke religion, pre-empt local protections, and target transgender and nonbinary people to allow, and in some cases mandate, discrimination.

All people – including those who are LGBTQ – should be treated fairly and equally by the laws of their state, and should have the opportunity to earn a living, access housing and healthcare, and participate fully in society.  

• Expanding Rights for LGBTQ People
  • Comprehensive Nondiscrimination Protections
  • Incomplete Nondiscrimination Protection
  • Identification Documents
  • Health Care Access
     
• Anti-LGBTQ Bills
  • Anti-Transgender Bills
    • Single-Sex Facility Restrictions
    • Anti-Trans Religious Exemption Bills
    • Restrictions on Identification Documents
    • Restrictions on Access to Healthcare
    • Other Anti-Trans bills
       
  • Harmful Religious Exemption Bills
    • Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs)
    • First Amendment Defense Acts (FADAs)
    • Restrictions on Health Care Access
    • Adoption & Foster Care Exemptions
    • Marriage-Related Exemptions
    • Exemptions for Schools and Student Organizations
    • Other Religious Exemption Bills
       
  • Bills Pre-Empting Local Protections
  • Other Anti-LGBT Bills

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

For 2018 Session bills, click HERE.

Expanding Rights for LGBTQ People

a.   Comprehensive Nondiscrimination Protection

Comprehensive nondiscrimination bills prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (or only gender identity if state law already covers sexual orientation), in a range of contexts, including employment, housing, and public accommodations.  Comprehensive bills do not have overly broad religious exemptions or other carve-outs that allow discrimination against LGBTQ people.

b.    Incomplete Nondiscrimination Protection

Incomplete nondiscrimination bills include those that lack gender identity protections, those that do not prevent discrimination in all key contexts, and those that contain broad religious exemptions language or carve-outs, including for sex-segregated facilities.

c.    Identification Documents Bills

d.    Healthcare Access Bills

e.    Other Pro-Equality Bills

Harmful anti-LGBTQ Bills:

Anti-Transgender Bills

These measures target transgender and nonbinary people for discrimination, such as by barring access to or even criminalizing the use of appropriate facilities, including restrooms, restricting transgender students’ ability to fully participate in school, authorizing healthcare discrimination against trans people, 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.   Single-Sex Facility Restrictions

b.   Anti-Trans Religious Exemptions

c.   Restrictions on Identification Documents

d.   Restrictions on Access to Healthcare

e.   Other Anti-Trans bills

Religious Exemption Bills

a.   Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs)

RFRAs make it easier for people to demand exemptions to generally applicable laws by allowing lawsuits challenging any governmental policy (such as non-discrimination laws) that someone says substantially burdens their religious beliefs. The government must prove that enforcing the policy is the least restrictive way of furthering a compelling governmental interest.

b.   First Amendment Defense Acts (FADAs)

Allow anyone - including government employees, contractors, and for-profit businesses – to act with impunity based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples, sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage, and transgender people. This would open the door to unprecedented taxpayer-funded discrimination.  For example, government employees, government contractors or grantees – including those providing important social services like homeless shelters or drug treatment programs -- could discriminate against married same-sex couples and their families, single mothers, or anyone who has a sexual relationship outside of a marriage.

c.   Healthcare Exemptions

Would allow those with religious objections to refuse care and undermine professional standards that apply equally to everyone. For instance, a high school guidance counselor could refuse to counsel a gay teenager, citing their sincerely held religious beliefs.

d.   Adoption & Foster Care Exemptions

Would allow adoption and foster care agencies to refuse to provide any adoption or foster care services that would conflict with the religious beliefs of the agency, regardless of the best interests of the children in their care.  

e.   Marriage-Related Exemptions

These bills create different types of religious exemptions regarding marriage.  Some of these bills apply to religious organizations, while others authorize discrimination by businesses or government officials.  Some bills explicitly target same-sex couples and others would allow discrimination based on religious beliefs about any marriage.

f.   Exemptions for Schools and Student Organizations

These bills would require public universities and schools to allow discrimination, such as by providing funding to student groups that exclude members because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

g.   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 LGBT people.   

Other Anti-LGBTQ Bills