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LGBTQ Equality Maps Updates: August 2021

Movement Advancement Project
4 min readAug 11, 2021

MAP’s interactive LGBTQ Equality Maps provide a comprehensive look at the current state of laws and policies impacting LGBTQ people across the United States. The Equality Maps offer a state-by-state comparison of the policy landscape and gaps in protections for LGBTQ people across the country.

To keep you informed on this regularly changing landscape, here are the updates as of August 2021.

Important Updates in the States

Advances in Local Communities to Prohibit Discrimination

Local cities and communities continue to make advances in securing vital nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

Comprehensive nondiscrimination ordinances were passed in Tolleson, Arizona; Upper Arlington, Ohio; South Charleston, West Virginia; Fort Mitchell, Kentucky; and Three Oaks, Michigan.

Ordinances to ban harmful conversion “therapy” were passed in:

  • North Kansas City, Missouri: the first ordinance in the state since 2019
  • Charleston, West Virginia: the first ordinance in the state

MAP Updates

New Report on Hate Crime Laws

Our latest policy spotlight report on hate crime laws provides an unprecedented look at the opportunities and limitations of hate crime laws as a means of preventing and addressing hate violence. Released in partnership with 16 leading civil rights organizations, it includes a forward by Judy Shepard, on behalf of the Matthew Shephard Foundation.

The report is a comprehensive analysis of the complex variation of state hate crime laws across the country, the challenges of responding to hate violence using a biased criminal justice system, and the paths forward for broadening our social and policy responses to hate violence.

New Equality Maps on Hate Crime Laws

As part of this launch, we added two new Equality Maps: a hate crime data collection map and a hate crime training for law enforcement map. Distinct from what is shown in the report, these maps show whether states have these requirements and whether these requirements specifically cover hate crimes based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Hate Crime Laws Equality Map: Data Collection
Hate Crime Laws Equality Map: Law Enforcement Training

Tracking Parental Opt-Out Laws

This past legislative session, three states (Arkansas, Montana, and Tennessee) passed laws that require parents to be notified in advance of any LGBTQ-inclusive curricula and allow parents to opt their children out of those classes. As a result we added parental opt-out laws to our anti-LGBTQ school laws tracking. The new laws on our map are distinct because they require parental notification for any LGBTQ-inclusive content, regardless of whether the content is taught in the context of sex education.

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Movement Advancement Project

MAP is an independent, nonprofit think tank that provides rigorous research, insight and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all.