LGBTQ+ people, overall, lack equal rights and access in the United States. In fact, in most of the U.S., LGBTQ+ people face discrimination in housing, credit, public accommodations, jury service, and other public arenas that don’t directly involve marriage or employment. It’s also no secret that Republicans around the country have been passing legislation for years that attacks the health and rights of transgender people. Charlotte Clymer, writer, LGBTQ+ advocate, and Director of Communications and Strategy at Catholics for Choice, talks to us about how state attacks on transgender rights are contributing to the lack of protections for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S.

This year state-level anti-trans policies have fallen into three buckets: those that prevent transgender youth from receiving lifesaving, gender-affirming medical care, those that prevent transgender youth from competing in sports, and religious liberty exemptions. Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee are states that have formally passed these types of legislation so far this year. In direct opposition to these egregious attacks on LGBT health and rights, the Equality Act is a comprehensive bill that, at the national level, would ban discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in every aspect of the public square. 

Since the Biden administration has taken office, there have been a number of protections that have been passed to support LGBTQ+ people. Immediately, the Biden administration signed a flurry of executive orders that made it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people within the federal government, overturn the ban on trans people in the military, and appoint a number of LGBTQ+ people to government posts. To expand upon its progress, the Biden administration should release every LGBTQ+ (and specifically, trans and non-binary) undocumented immigrant from ICE and CPB custody, ensure that incarcerated trans people maintain their rights and wellbeing, and create an LGBTQ+-specific equality commission or council, and strengthening reporting in the State Department’s international Human Rights Reports on LGBTQ+ safety around the world.

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