Nondiscrimination

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people suffer pervasive discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodation, education, medical care and otherwise in their everyday lives because of a lack of legal protection.

Nondiscrimination laws help ensure that LGBT people have equal access to the same opportunities, benefits and protections granted to everyone else, such as the ability to work in an environment where people are judged by their job performance, not their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The LGBT community saw a huge victory in 2003 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sodomy laws targeting consensual adults were unconstitutional. Those archaic laws criminalized private adult same-sex intimacy and posed a real threat to families led by same-sex couples.

Why It Matters:

Without specific legal protections, LGBT people will continue to be vulnerable to mistreatment and discrimination in all facets of their lives.

What We’re Doing:

The Task Force’s Public Policy & Government Affairs team is working hard on Capitol Hill for federal nondiscrimination protections for our community. Learn more about our work to secure nondiscrimination protections for our community and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
We work shoulder to shoulder with local LGBT rights advocates to pass state and local nondiscrimination laws through our trainings, fieldwork, financial support and our efforts to bolster the infrastructure of our state organizations fighting for LGBT equality.
We provide activists with the tools they need to advance LGBT rights.
View our comprehensive issue maps on discrimination and hate crimes.