Washinton — Last week the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the Equality Federation Institute released their 5th annual State Equality Index, a comprehensive report detailing statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ people and their families, and assessing how well states are protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination. Michigan falls into the category, "High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality."
"As LGBTQ people continue to face an onslaught of attacks from the federal administration in Washington, the Human Rights Campaign's 2019 State Equality Index documents how states were instrumental in advancing equality through pro-LGBTQ legislation, policies and proposals," said HRC President Alphonso David. "In the absence of federal nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ community, states must put policies in place to ensure equality for their residents, workers and visitors. In 2020 and beyond, the Human Rights Campaign will continue to work with our partners to defeat anti-LGBTQ legislation in the states and secure new protections for our community, both at the state and federal level. Already, we see the promise of even more protections passing state legislatures in 2020, including action taken in Virginia advancing the Virginia Values Act."
Due to the lack of explicit, comprehensive civil rights protections for LGBTQ people at the federal level, the rights of millions of LGBTQ people and their families vary depending on which state they live in. In 30 states, LGBTQ people remain at risk of being fired, evicted or denied services because of who they are. These top-rated states and Washington, D.C., have robust LGBTQ non-discrimination laws covering employment, housing and public accommodations.
The SEI's assessment of statewide LGBTQ-related legislation and policies in the areas of parenting laws and policies, religious refusal and relationship recognition laws, non-discrimination laws and policies, hate crime and criminal justice laws, youth-related laws and policies and health and safety laws and policies has placed each state in one of four distinct categories:
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia are in the highest-rated category, "Working Toward Innovative Equality":
California, Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; District of Columbia; Illinois; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Minnesota; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; Oregon; Rhode Island; Vermont; and Washington
Three states are in the category "Solidifying Equality":
Hawaii; Iowa; and New Hampshire
Two states are in the category "Building Equality":
Utah and Wisconsin
Twenty-Eight states are in the lowest-rated category "High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality":
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; and Wyoming
Last year, the pro-equality majority in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, a bill to establish comprehensive federal protections for LGBTQ people. But as HRC and other civil rights organizations work toward establishing these critical federal protections, accelerating progress at the state level is vital.
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HRC's full State Equality Index report, including detailed scorecards for every states, and a preview of the 2020 state legislative session is available online at hrc.org/sei.
