Criminal Justice

Many lawmakers continue to threaten the livelihoods of LGBTQ+ people and their families by imposing harsher sentences on "taboo" issues. These "taboo" crimes are usually over-documented as committed by LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, BIPOC communities, and more at a disproportionate rate to their white, cis, straight, able-bodied counterparts. Discriminatory efforts like these make our justice system inaccessible and harmful.

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We track important legislation nationwide

Click on your state above to see all the bills we’re tracking there, or select an issue you care about for a picture of where legislation is moving across the country. We do not list bills as positive or negative because we defer to our member organizations on the ground. The bills listed on this page are those that impact the LGBTQ+ community in one way or another. If you would like to see specific good or bad bills in your state, please go to our Members page and find the member organization in your state.

National Updates

We monitor and track important federal legislation, court cases, rule changes, and ballot measures when LGBTQ+ lives will be affected. Learn more about the moments we’re monitoring.

Joint response from LGBTQ+ organizations Anti-Violence Project, CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ+ Centers, and Equality Federation on Biden-Harris Administration Announcement on Actions to Protect LGBTQI+ Communities

Equality Federation Reacts to Supreme Court Decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court has made one thing clear: no one should be turned away from a taxpayer-funded program because of who they are,” said Fran Hutchins, Equality Federation Executive Director. “While the Court ruled in favor of Catholic Social Services, they did so on the narrowest possible ground. Governments are still able to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents and must continue to do so for the over 400,000 children currently in foster care.”

Despite Senate divisions, now is a golden opportunity to pass the Equality Act

The Equality Act would update existing federal civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity as unlawful grounds for discrimination along with race, color, religion, sex and national origin. It would send a powerful message of inclusion that everyone should have the freedom and opportunity to work hard, earn a living, provide for their families and contribute to communities. We must do everything possible to pass these protections as soon as we can. The path is not easy. It will require hard work and engaging in good faith dialogue with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as well as concessions on both sides to reach bipartisan consensus.

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Confident young woman standing with crossed arms.

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With your support, we'll be able to continue our work to build the leaders of today and tomorrow, strengthen state-based LGBTQ+ organizations, and make critical progress on the issues that matter most—like protecting transgender people, ending HIV criminalization and ensuring access to care, and banning conversion therapy across the country.

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