Archives: Briefs
Support for Transgender People is Higher Than Headlines Suggest
This partner brief from MAP and Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) offers new analysis which shows that transgender people are widely accepted and supported by their families, workplaces, faith communities, and more.
New Survey Reveals Dramatic Changes for LGBTQ Adults Since November 2024
This brief details nationally representative survey data that provide a critical snapshot into the experiences, concerns, and actions of LGBTQ people since the November 2024 election.
Democracy 101: Understanding Voter ID Laws
This brief explores the history and evolution of voter ID laws, the current landscape and legislative proposals, and examines the harms these policies impose, particularly on marginalized communities.
Democracy 101: Understanding Voter List Maintenance
This brief examines the history and development of voter list maintenance policies, the current landscape, legislative proposals, and it contrasts accepted best practices with policies that lead to problematic — and often targeted or discriminatory — voter purges.
Democracy 101: Understanding Federal vs. State Control Over Elections
This brief explains the constitutional framework for elections, explores the roles of state and federal authorities, and explains how recent broad assertions of presidential power risk destabilizing our democracy.
Democracy 101: Understanding Proof of Citizenship Requirements for Voter Registration
This brief details how policy proposals requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration have emerged, and explains why these threaten to disenfranchise millions of otherwise eligible voters.
Democracy 101: Understanding State Voting Rights Acts
This policy brief outlines the need for state VRAs, explains how these policies have developed and how they differ, and offers a rundown of proposals in the 2025 legislative session.
How State Policy Affects the Well-Being and Relocation of LGBTQ+ Young People
LGBTQ+ young people in states with a lower LGBTQ+ policy index were more likely to cross into another state to access health care or consider moving out of the state altogether compared to those in states with a higher LGBTQ+
The New National Academies Report & the Importance of LGBTQI Data Inclusion
March 2022 – The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) issued a report with formal recommendations for collecting data on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics. This brief explains why data inclusion is so
Why LGBT Elders Need the Equality Act
July 2021 – This issue brief details how LGBT older people would benefit from passage of the Equality Act, which would update federal civil rights law to explicitly protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender
