FEBRUARY 12 . 2005 • Q-NOTES
National
Forty-seven percent of U.S. gays protected
from discrimination
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But work is still ahead of us —
federal bill stalled the last decade
by Roberta Sklar
With Illinois acting Jan. 18 to ban anti
gay discrimination, 47 percent of the U.S.
•‘Thanks to the hard work of grassroots
activists, the glass of basic fairness for les
bian, gay, bisexual and transgender
Americans is slowly filling up,” said Sean
Cahill (pictured), director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy
State Nondiscrimination Laws in the U.S.
(as of January 2005)
I Uws banning discrimination based on sexuai orientation and gender identity (5 states)
Mmnesola (1993); Rhode Island (3(X)1); New Mexico (2(X>3): Cafifomia (?003): Minoa (3005)
I Laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation (10 states)
Wtconyn (1982): AAauachusetts (1989); ConnecOcuL and Hawaii (1991); New )efsey and Vennont (1992);
New Hampshire (1997); Nevada (1999). MaryUnd (2001); New Yori (2002).
* An Ore|{on appefla^ court >uied that the state taw prohibiting sex dnaimnation m the workplace aho
covers sexual onmtation.
“Activists in Maine have twice passed a statewide nondiscrimination bill. The first—passed in 1997—was repealed
by a 1996 baNot measure. The second—passed in 2000—automaticaHy put the measure up for a pubSc vote for
fabrication. On Nov. 7,2000, Maine voters defeated the ballot imtialive. invaikUtind the measure
Natfanal Oay and LmMm
Task Force
1325 MaMchusetU Av*. NW, Sute £00
WasNngtgn, 0C 3000S
tel 202 393 5177 fax 202 393 2341
Mlpy.^Mvw.theUsicfo>ce.o^
I on sexual orientation and gender idenly.
population — 138 million people — now
live in a jurisdiction that bans discrimina
tion on the basis of sexual orientation,
according to an analysis by the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy.
Institute. Ten years ago, the figure was 34
percent.
The analysis also
found that more than
one in four Americans
— 27 percent — now
lives In a jurisdiction
that bans discrimina
tion against transgender
persons, up from four
percent 10 years ago
and five percent just five years ago.
Illinois’s law also bans discrimination
based on gender identity and expression.
Institute. “While we have a long way to go
until all of us are protected from discrimi
nation in employment, housing, and pub
lic accommodations, the progress is unde
niable and unstoppable.”
The Policy Institute analysis concluded
that the actions of state legislatures and
town councils reflected strong public sup
port for laws protecting gay and transgen
der people from discrimination.
As nondiscrimination protections have
spread across the nation at the local and
state level, a federal bill to ban anti-gay
discrimination in employment has lan
guished in Congress for nearly a decade.
Some Facts:
• As Stated, nearly 138 million Americans
now live in a state or local jurisdiction
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that bans discrimination on the basis onf
sexual orientation.
• Another 79 million live in a place that
bans discrimination against transgen-
dered people. Ten years ago, only 9.7
million Americans lived in a jurisdiction
that banned such discrimination.
• However, 156 million Americans,, or 53
percent of the U.S. population, live in a
state or jurisdiction where one can be
fired, refused service in a restaurant or
denied housing or a loan simply because
of his/her actual or perceived sexual ori
entation.
• 1\vo hundred and fifteen million Americans,
or 73 percent of the U.S. population, live
in a jurisdiction where a person can be
fired, refused service in a restaurant, or
denied housing or a loan simply because
of his/her actual or perceived gender
identity or expression. .
• Fifteen states ban discrimination based
on sexual orientation. The first state to
ban anti-gay discrimination was 1982 in
Wisconsin.
• Five states ban discrimination based on
gender identity and expression. The first
state to ban anti-transgender discrimina
tion was Minnesota in 1993.
• Washington, D.C., and more than 200
towns, cities and counties, also ban sex
ual orientation discrimination, and more
than 70 local jurisdictions ban anti
transgender discrimination.
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