The are no federal laws banning discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Within the states there is a sharp split, with some enacting protections and a majority opting not to. According to LGBT-rights advocacy groups, here is the latest breakdown...
28 states have no explicit statewide protections for sexual orientation and gender identity:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.
17 states and the Columbia prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.
3 states prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations: New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin. The laws in these states don't encompass gender identity. However, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is issuing an executive order that will soon extend protections to transgender people.
Massachusetts prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations. There is an effort underway to extend the public accommodation protections to transgender people.
Utah prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing. Its law does not cover public accommodations.
It is important for all LGBT people to consider these laws when deciding on where to live, work, get married, have children. We still have a long way to go to be protected by law. Hopefully, there will be some federal laws put into place in the future that will ban discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
