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New Democracy Maps

Snapshot: LGBTQ Equality by State

The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) tracks over 50 different LGBTQ-related laws and policies.  This map shows the overall policy tallies (as distinct from sexual orientation or gender identity tallies) for each state, the District of Columbia, and the five populated U.S. territories. A state’s policy tally scores the laws and policies within each state that shape LGBTQ people's lives, experiences, and equality. The major categories of laws covered by the policy tally include: Relationship & Parental Recognition, Nondiscrimination, Religious Exemptions, LGBTQ Youth, Health Care, Criminal Justice, and Identity Documents.  

Click on any state to view its detailed policy tally and state profile, or click "Choose an Issue" above to view maps on over 50 different LGBTQ-related laws and policies. 
United States Map
Washington New York U.S. Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Guam Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands American Samoa New Hampshire Vermont Virginia Pennsylvania New York Maine West Virginia Ohio Kentucky Indiana Michigan Illinois Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Georgia Florida Mississippi Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Iowa Minnesota Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska South Dakota North Dakota Texas 33 Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Arizona Utah Nevada Oregon California Hawaii Alaska Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland Washington D.C. New Hampshire Vermont
  • High Overall Policy Tally (15 states + D.C.)
  • Medium Overall Policy Tally (6 states)
  • Fair Overall Policy Tally (2 states, 2 territories)
  • Low Overall Policy Tally (12 states, 3 territories)
  • Negative Overall Policy Tally (15 states)
Note that these scores reflect only existing laws and policies. They do not reflect bills currently under consideration, nor the implementation of each state’s laws. The tally also does not reflect the social climate in a state, the efforts of advocates, and/or opportunities for future change. States with lower scores might shift rapidly with an influx of resources, and states with higher scores might backslide, or they might expand equality for LGBTQ people in ways that can provide models for other states. In other words, these scores are an excellent measure of the current LGBTQ policy landscape across a wide range of issues, but the scores do not necessarily reflect the entire political or social landscape for LGBTQ people.

Each of the over 50 LGBTQ-related laws and policies that MAP tracks earns a score (positive for protective, or negative for harmful). See a state's profile to see its detailed scores across all these policies. For each state, these individual policy scores are then added up to produce a summary tally score. This table shows how a state's tally score determines its categorization. 

Below are the current scoring thresholds. Each category reflects a percentage range of the total possible points. For example, earning 25-49.9% of the total points possible results in a "Fair" categorization. 


Category
Sexual Orientation Tally
Gender Identity Tally
OVERALL Tally
High
(75-100% of points possible)
17.25+
19.5+
36.75+
Medium
(50-74.9% OF POINTS POSSIBLE)
11.5 to 17
13 to 19.25
24.5 to 36.5
Fair
(25-49.9% of points possible)
5.75 to 11.25
6 to 12.75
12.25 to 24.25 
Low
(0-24.9% of points possible)
0 to 5.5
0 to 5.75
0 to 12
Negative
(<0 points)
<0
<0
<0
Total points possible
23
26
49

Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project. [Year of access]. "Equality Maps Snapshot: LGBTQ Equality By State." https://www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/. Accessed [day of access].


Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBTQ adult population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBTQ adult population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.

40%

40 % of the LGBTQ population lives in states with high overall policy tallies

8%

8 % of the LGBTQ population lives in states with medium overall policy tallies

6%

6 % of LGBTQ population lives in states with fair overall policy tallies

17%

17 % of LGBTQ population lives in states with low overall policy tallies

29%

29 % of LGBTQ population lives in states with negative overall policy tallies

Related Resources


FAQ

Policy Tallies: Frequently Asked Questions

For information on our methodology and rationale behind the creation of the Policy Tallies, click here to see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Report

Mapping LGBTQ Equality: 2010 to 2020

February 2020 - This report offers a fresh perspective on the current legal status of LGBTQ people and tallies nearly 40 LGBTQ-related laws and policies across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories.

Report

Mapping Transgender Equality in the United States

February 2017 - To help make sense of the current policy landscape in the states, this report looks at legal equality for transgender people across the country. The gender identity tally is comprised of 25 state laws and policies in five key categories: Non-Discrimination, LGBT Youth, Health and Safety, Ability to Correct the Name and Gender Marker on Identity Documents, and Adoption and Parenting.

Report

Mapping LGBT Equality in America

May 2015 - Mapping LGBT Equality in America sets out to identify and explain the key gaps in legal equality for LGBT Americans by introducing the major state and local laws and policies that protect or harm LGBT people, providing a breakdown of those laws and policies by state, and showing how protections for LGBT Americans vary based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

Charts

State Policy Tallies

Policy Tallies provide an overview of laws and polices that exist in each state. The major categories of laws covered by the policy tally include: Marriage and Relationship Recognition, Adoption and Parenting, Non-Discrimination, Safe Schools, Health and Safety, and the Ability for Transgender People to Correct the Gender Marker on Identity Documents.

Infographics

Policy Tallies: Infographics

From the pages of Mapping LGBT Equality in America is a set of shareable infographics, including: ‘Equality Wheel: LGBT Policy Tallies by State,’ ‘Percent of Population Covered,’ ‘State Tallies if the Supreme Court Grants Nationwide Marriage for Same-Sex Couples,’ and more.


Data current as of 04/01/2025
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