Is your home state LGBTQ friendly? See how your state measures up.

United States Gay Pride flag
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Do you believe your hometown or locale is a friendly place for LGBTQ people? What about your state or territory?

For the seventh year in a row, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has released its State Equality Index, which comprehensively details how each state affects LGBTQ people and their families, based on laws and policies that either harm or improve the quality of life. A lot of people may assume their state is friendly, but in reality, 25 states — half of the 50 United States — are rated in the lowest category, meaning they are in “High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality,” HRC said.

Related: 31 anti-transgender bills filed in 20 states as GOP targets schoolchildren nationwide

“Despite the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, which prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ people, explicit and comprehensive civil rights protections still do not exist for LGBTQ people at the federal level,” HRC wrote with the announcement on January 25. “As a result, the rights of millions of LGBTQ people and their families vary depending on which state they live in.”

The HRC specifies that, despite the court ruling, there are still 27 states where “LGBTQ people remain at risk of facing discrimination due to the lack of statutory protections.”

The laws and policies that HRC typically analyze for the index are in the areas of parenting, religious exemptions, relationship recognition, non-discrimination laws, hate crime and criminal justice laws, youth, and health and safety.

One location that HRC highlighted specifically for making progress toward LGBTQ equality was Virginia. One that regressed that HRC pointed to was Idaho.

“The 2020 legislative session was one of the most unusual in recent memory, given the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the shortened sessions in many states, we saw multiple states pass pro-equality laws to protect the LGBTQ community,” HRC President Alphonso David said.

“Although there were anti-LGBTQ laws passed – most notably in Idaho, where the legislature and governor refused to immediately respond to the pandemic and instead spent time passing legislation expressly targeting transgender people – we also saw great progress.”

“For example, the landmark Virginia Values Act passed and signed into law, making Virginia the first state in the South to adopt non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people,” David noted.

Overall, 19 states received the highest rank given in the index…

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