The LGBTQ+ population is the largest it has ever been in recorded United States history, and the community is only growing.
Over 13.9 million adults in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ+, accounting for 5.5 percent of the country's total population, a study from the Williams Institute at the University of California found. That's up one whole percentage point, and over 2 million people, from their 2020 report.
The study also found that 18-24-year-olds are the group with the most queer people, with over 15 percent identifying as LGBTQ+. In other age groups, 9 percent of those 25 to 34 years old, 4 percent of those ages 35 to 49, and 5 percent of those ages 50 and older identify as LGBTQ+.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) recently issued a statement affirming the right of footballers to self-expression, following criticism that surfaced after one player was reportedly asked to tone down his appearance.
The controversy began when Yan Couto, a Brazilian national team player set to compete in the Copa America, revealed that he was advised against keeping his pink hair, a style he’d worn with his Spanish club, Girona.
In an interview, Couto said, “For the national team, I’m going with black hair, I’m going to remove it. They told me that pink is a bit extravagant. I don’t think so, but I’ll respect it.” While Couto did not specify who “they” referred to, fans and media speculated that the CBF had requested the change.
As criticism of the CBF grew over these alleged restrictions on self-expression, the organisation responded via Instagram, clarifying its stance: “The CBF reaffirms its commitment to freedom, plurality, the right to self-expression, and free construction of the personality of each individual who works for the organisation or represents the Brazilian National Team.”
The CBF’s message continued, stating that “each employee or athlete must have autonomy over their own appearance, beliefs, sexual orientation, and gender expression.”
Despite the CBF’s assurances of inclusivity, the Brazilian men’s national team has yet to have an openly gay or bisexual player. In fact, worldwide, only a few professional footballers are openly gay.
Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii approved ballot measures amending their constitutions to remove language banning marriage equality by significant margins.
In California, Proposition 3, Constitutional Right to Marriage, amends the California Constitution to remove language stating that marriage exists only between men and women. Prop. 3 leads by 61.1 percent to 38.9 percent.
In Colorado, Measure J removes the language “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state” from the Colorado Constitution. Measure J passed with over 63 percent of the vote.
In Hawaii, Question #1 asked voters, “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?” Over 52 percent voted yes to the question.
The three victories provided a ray of hope for the LGBTQ+ community on a night that saw Donald Trump retaking the Presidency and the Republicans regaining control of the Senate.
Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride will be the first openly transgender person to serve in the U.S. Congress.
McBride will succeed fellow Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester as the state’s at-large member of Congress.
McBride has been a rising star in politics. She previously worked for former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and the late Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden. In 2012, she interned with the Obama administration.
She won her state Senate seat in 2020 with more than 70% of the vote.
"Just as I have done in the Delaware State Senate, I will focus on bringing down costs facing workers, their families, and retirees by providing affordable healthcare, housing, and childcare to all of our neighbors," she said.
A Japanese high court ruled that the country's lack of legal recognition for same-sex marriage violates the right to equality under the Constitution, saying the ban leads to discriminatory treatment of people based on sexual orientation. It became the second high court to rule that the ban is unconstitutional.
The court also ruled that the marriage ban violates the section of the Constitution that says laws concerning matters pertaining to marriage and family "shall be enacted from the standpoint of individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes."
It became the second high court to rule that the ban is unconstitutional. The Sapporo High Court ruling in March said not allowing same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same benefits as straight couples violates their fundamental right to equality and freedom of marriage.
Japan remains the only Group of Seven major industrialized country that has not legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions, despite growing pressure from the LGBTQ community and its supporters.
Queer is an 2024 gay romance drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1940s Mexico City, the film follows an outcast American expat William Lee (Daniel Craig) who becomes infatuated with a beautiful younger man called Eugene (Drew Starkey).
The movie, in its first half, is a luscious barbed comedy of liberation, punched along by its anachronistic music choices (Nirvana, Prince, New Order). Lee, who calls himself a “man of independent means” (he has family money), is content to live this life of pleasure and indolence, to revel in his addictions. The Mexico City queer scene we see is both squalid and a kind of paradise. The men share their cruising stories and bitch at each other with bitter understanding.
In its second half, turns into a very different movie, a trippy road comedy about the search for mind-altering transcendence, because Lee wants to find the fabled hallucinogen yage, or ayahuasca, because he’s heard it gives the user telepathic powers and he wants to discover what Eugene really thinks and feels about him. Even as film sinks into a kind of torpor, it is also a fulfillment of the film’s vision of Burroughs, and of queer love.
Asked about the film, Craig said “I always felt that Burroughs had a very public face, and I wanted to know what the private part of him was like,” said Craig, who spoke to a few people who knew him. “I think in ‘Queer’ you sort of see more of that than you do in his other books.”
“There’s nothing intimate about filming a sex scene … we just wanted to make it as touching and as real and as natural as we possibly could,” Craig said. “Drew is a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic actor to work with. We kind of had a laugh. We tried to make it fun,” he added.
Popular Thailand actors, “Mew” Suppasit Jongcheveevat (ศุภศิษฏ์ จงชีวีวัฒน์) and “Tul” Pakorn Thanasrivanitchai (ตุลย์ ภากร ธนศรีวนิชชัย), got engaged during a press conference, following Thailand’s legalisation of same-sex marriage.
Mew held a press conference to promote his new single “Absence (Heart’s Gap)”. However, during the event, the actor called his boyfriend Tul onto the stage, surprising the audience and fans. “As I’ve said before, this song was written for the person who came to fulfil my empty heart,” said Mew as Tul got up on stage.
The actor then proceeded to kneel in front of his boyfriend to propose, much to everyone’s shock. With Mew’s unpredicted romantic gesture, Tul was seen tearing up before he accepted the proposal. The actor quickly embraced him and the beautiful moment was captured by the press and lucky fans who attended the event.
Thailand become the first country in southeast Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, last month. The legislation will also allow LGBTQ+ couples to adopt, as well as giving them equal access to marital tax savings, rights to property, and the ability to decide medical treatment if their partner is incapacitated.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is out with a new report that lays bare the dramatic differences in how federal agencies approached LGBTQ+ rights under the administrations of Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
The comprehensive analysis provides a critical look at the policies that have shaped the lives of LGBTQ+ people over the past several years. It reveals that under Biden the LGBTQ+ community is faring much better than under Trump.
“The analysis makes clear what we have seen across the country,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “Actions have consequences. Time and again, the Trump Administration ushered in policies and positions that did damage to LGBTQ+ lives. Meanwhile, in their first term, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken steps to make our lives better. Federal agencies take actions that impact nearly every aspect of our lives. And Americans deserve a government that steps up to defend freedom and equality for all.”
Under Trump, the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights was relentless, according to the report. Agencies systematically rescinded rules and guidance that had previously affirmed legal protections for LGBTQ+ people. In stark contrast, the President Biden administration has worked diligently to restore and expand protections for LGBTQ+ people, HRC reports.
President Joe Biden made history by selecting Kamala Harris as the first woman of color as a vice president (VP), and a rising political star who has demonstrated a commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. Kamala Harris has a strong record of support for LGBTQ+ causes.
The King of Thailand signed a new law recognizing marriage equality, the government announced in its official Royal Gazette.
The Prime Minister of Thailand announced in November 2023 that his cabinet approved a bill to provide legal recognition to same-sex marriages. This year, Thailand’s House of Representatives approved the law in March, while the Senate passed it in June, sending it to the king.
The new law amends the country’s civil code and ensures same-sex married couples receive full legal, medical, and financial rights, as well as full inheritance and adoption rights. The new law also amends the civil code to use gender-neutral rather than binary language.
With the royal ascent of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand became Southeast Asia’s first country and only the third country in Asia to recognize marriage equality. The new law will take effect on January 22, 2025.
“To all the love,” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted to X Twitter. “Congratulations on everyone’s love.”
Poland’s government has presented a bill to introduce legally recognised partnerships for same-sex couples.
The proposed law would allow any two unmarried adults, regardless of their gender, to enter a registered partnership at a registry office. This would provide them with enhanced rights and obligations relating to taxation, healthcare and inheritance, among other things.
However, although their introduction is supported by most of the groups that make up Poland’s ruling coalition, it is likely to face opposition from one of their conservative allies. Even if the bill were to be approved by parliament, it faces a possible veto by conservative President Andrzej Duda.
The country is currently one of only five in the EU that does not offer such partnerships, and the European Court of Human Rights ruled last year that this violates the rights of same-sex couples.
Seems a growing majority of Poles favour the legalisation of same-sex civil partnerships or marriage, with almost two thirds now in favour, a new poll has shown.
The Secret of the River is the new Netflix series focused on a transgender character and set in Mexico.
The series follows two children named Erik and Manuel in a small Mexican village, who became friends and witness a horrific death together which they must keep secret.
Nearly 20 years later, the two friends cross paths again. But their differences might be more pronounces than ever especially as Manuel now goes by Sicarú.
Despite trying to figure out who they are to each other now, they must face their past together before it all comes crashing down around them.
The stars are Diego Calva as Erik and Trinidad González as Sicarú.
Heartstopper Season 3 is already out on Netflix. The series, based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, follows loved-up teens Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke), and their gang of friends.
Alice Oseman told: “Season 2 ended with Nick beginning to understand the extent of Charlie’s mental health issues, and it’s this that will drive the story through Season 3. While Heartstopper will always celebrate the joyful and point towards hope, I’m really excited that we are allowing the tone of the show to mature alongside our beloved characters growing up."
"Mental health, sex, university ambitions, and more: Nick, Charlie, and the Heartstopper teens are getting older, learning more about themselves and each other, and experiencing new desires, new fears, and new joys as they approach adulthood,” she added.
Heartstopper Season 3 took inspiration from Volume 4 and Volume 5; there is a sixth and final novel on the way. Oseman confirms she is in talks with Netflix and Heartstopper’s production company about what will come next for the television series.
Unicorns is a powerful story of forbidden love and colliding cultures unfolds when hard-working single father Luke meets beautiful, seductive drag queen Aysha. Ben Hardy and newcomer Jason Patel shine in this must-see romance.
Unable to deny the spark between them the pair are forced down the unexpected path of transformation, where they must question their identities and confront their individual truths.
Co-directed by Sally El Hosaini and filmmaker-actor James Krishna Floyd, the film alternates between the thrill of raw desire, the gravity of familial responsibility, and the transformative power of being seen for who you really are.
The movie, recently won both the Barrière Special Jury Prize and the Hitchcock Audience Award for Best Feature at Dinard Film Festival.
A Taiwanese & Chinese gay couple officially registered their marriage in Taiwan, becoming the island's first-ever legally married cross-strait same-sex couple.
Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriages in 2019 and last year, the island changed its previous interpretation to recognize gay marriages between its citizens and their foreign partners even if the partners' countries do not allow such unions.
The couple, a 38-year-old Kaohsiung resident and a 48-year-old from Beijing, received the long-awaited paperwork that recognizes their union from a household registration office in the southern port city.
The couple first met in Kaohsiung in 2016. However, their application in October 2020 was initially rejected by the island's immigration agency.
After the couple partially won lawsuits to have their marriage legally recognized on the island, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said on Sept. 19 that cross-strait same-sex couples married in a third country can register their marriage in Taiwan.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Member States of the European Union (EU) should recognise legal gender recognition granted in another Member State.
This decision supports Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a Romanian trans man who was denied recognition in Romania after changing his gender marker in the UK. The CJEU ruled in favour of Arian, stating that Romania must recognise the legal gender recognition granted in the UK.
The Court emphasised that the refusal to acknowledge changes of forename and gender acquired in another Member State is contrary to the fundamental rights of EU citizens, particularly the principles of free movement and non-discrimination.
The importance of this judgement extends beyond the applicant’s individual circumstance, and underscores the broader issue faced by trans people whose legal gender recognition in one Member State is not acknowledged elsewhere in the EU, preventing them to travel freely, live, work or study across the EU, or even to vote, as any other citizen is able to.
The judgement confirms the principle that rights legally obtained in one Member State must remain valid throughout the EU.
The Taliban have been slashing away at women’s rights since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Taliban have issued more than 70 edicts, including limiting girls to primary-level education, banning women from most professions and prohibiting them from using parks, gyms and other public places.
Among the rules, it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.
Afghanistan’s rulers also are cracking down on the sound of women’s voices in public and prohibit women from speaking outside their homes. A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public.
Don't forget, under the Taliban's Islamic regim, conviction of same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by death, flogging or imprisonment. They made public statements reiterating that their interpretation of sharia includes the death penalty for homosexuality.
Until when?
Read a report about LGBTQ+ persecution in Afghanistan under the Taliban here.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed legislation to finalize a law to bring marriage equality to Thailand, capping off a legislative process that originated earlier this year.
The Prime Minister of Thailand announced in November 2023 that his cabinet approved a bill to provide legal recognition to same-sex marriages. This year, Thailand’s House of Representatives approved the law in March, while the Senate passed it in June, sending it to the king.
The marriage equality law will go into effect in 120 days, paving the way for queer couples to marry by January.
The new marriage law also removes gendered references to “husband” and “wife” and establishes some adoption and inheritance rights.
Thailand is now the third country in Asia, along with Taiwan and Nepal, to extend marriage rights to LGBTQ couples.
'Freedom To Be' is an initiative led by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to center the voices and experiences of trans people in America through storytelling and the creation of a large monument to be displayed on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2025 for Trans Day of Visibility.
The 'Freedom To Be' campaign shows transgender people and their families from across the country finding joy and community, grounded in the basic principle that we all deserve the freedom to control our own families, bodies, and lives.
It will be a year-long, multimedia, multi-platform campaign, with a focus on long- and short-form video content, including a portrait series of trans people, digital and billboard ads, art installations created by and for trans people that will blanket the National Mall next year, and call to action surrounding a pledge to support trans youth.
The campaign couldn’t come at a more important time. The Skrmetti Supreme Court case could affirm Tennesse’s ban on gender-affirming care, eroding the medically necessary care that many trans youth depend on.
Fighting for the freedom to be loved, to be safe, to be trusted with decisions about their own health care. Watch their storytellers and how they are advocating for their freedom to be, and donate for helping, here.
Vice President Kamala Harris leads the race for the Oval Office among LGBTQ voters by a wide margin. More than 70 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer voters indicating they will cast a ballot for the Democratic ticket, according to a nationwide poll.
VP Harris holds a nearly 67-point lead over Donald Trump, according to the survey from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, and an almost 70-point lead when the results are restricted to those who plan to vote.
Data collection began two weeks after President Biden abandoned his reelection campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris and just days after she selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, as her running mate.
About 8 percent of respondents who intend to vote said they would vote for Trump compared with 77 percent who said they would vote for Harris and Walz. The remaining share of LGBTQ adults said they planned to back a third-party candidate or did not plan on voting.
President Joe Biden shared his thoughts and reflections in a wide-ranging sit-down interview with the Washington Blade in the Oval Office, which marked the first time in which an LGBTQ newspaper has conducted an exclusive interview with a sitting U.S. president.
Biden-Harris Administration has been hailed as the most pro-LGBTQ in American history, achieving major milestones in the struggle to expand freedoms and protections for the community.
Looking back on the movement, the president repeatedly expressed his admiration for the “men and women who broke the back of the prejudice, or began to break the back” starting with those involved in the nascent movement for gay rights that was kicked off in earnest with the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
The president has spoken publicly about his deep respect and admiration for LGBTQ people, including the trans community, and trans youth, whom he has repeatedly said are some of the bravest people he knows.
President Biden said, “I wanted an administration that looked like America,” adding, “all the LGBTQ+ people that have worked for me or with me have reinforced my view that it’s not what your sexual preference is, it’s what your intellectual capacity is and what your courage is.”
New guidance has been written for care homes to support inclusive care practice for older LGBTQ people in the U.K.
Researchers from the University of Kent, in collaboration with the University of Surrey and the University of Hertfordshire, have developed the free guide to help with care for LGBTQ people.
There was an urgent need for improvement and the guide offers practical tips about positive actions care staff can take. When it comes to care homes, many older LGBTQ people fear having to go back into the closet to be safe.
The care home guide was produced as part of a larger research study examining LGBTQ inclusion in care homes called CIRCLE (Creating Inclusive Residential Care for LGBTQ Elders) led by Dr Jolie Keemink from Kent’s Centre for Health Services Studies.
Dr Keemink said: "Research shows that the older LGBTQ population is expected to rely more heavily on social care than their heterosexual counterparts, because they are less likely to have children and more likely to experience a lack of social support".
Downloadable and printable formats of the guide, as well as a video version, can be found on here.
A new study from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law showed that 47% of LGBTQ workers in the U.S. have experienced discrimination at some point during their careers.
The study, looked at a survey of LGBTQ workers about their experiences in the workplace in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision in 2020, which granted employment protections to LGBTQ people.
Considering 46% of LGBTQ people are not out to their supervisor, and 20% are not out to any of their coworkers, the results show 47% of the LGBTQ employees say they have experienced discrimination, and 42% have experienced harassment.
The rates of discrimination are the worst for trans and nonbinary workers, with 55% of them having experienced discrimination.
Besides, 72% of respondents said that they had heard negative comments, slurs, or jokes about LGBTQ people at work at some point in their lives. And 36% had heard negative comments about the LGBTQ community within the past year.
Recently, a similar survey published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) suggested more than half (52%) of LGBTQ people in UK reported being bullied or harassed at work, in the last five years.
Several thousand of LGBTQ supporters turned out for the Pride march in Belgrade, where organizers said their demands that the government pass laws to recognize same-sex unions and gender identity remain their top priorities.
Marchers waved rainbow flags as they walked along a route secured by a heavy police presence behind a colorful banner with the phrase "Pride Means People" in Serbian. Several beat drums, while others held posters with phrases such as, “No one is free until everyone is free,” and, “Love wins.”
Four government ministers, including Tanja Miscevic, who is in charge of Serbia's EU integration, took part. "It is a matter of protection of a part of citizens who must be equal in law with other citizens," she said.
The march ended without any incidents after passing by the Serbian parliament building and the building that houses the presidency, pointing out the discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQ people.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Serbia in 1994, but LGBT people say they still experience repression and violence. Human Rights Watch warned in a report in early 2024 that LGBTQ people in Serbia face intolerance, threats, and violence.
The Florida’s tourism marketing site quietly took down part of its website dedicated to attracting LGBTQ visitors.
For years, LGBTQ travelers have flocked to cities and towns like St. Petersburg, Key West and Sarasota, which have been welcoming to them. Visit Florida’s website once contained a robust marketing section on its website that once promoted Pride events and popular destinations for LGBTQ travelers.
For example, the site had dedicated pages promoting Florida’s top 10 gay beaches and LGBTQ-friendly destinations. But anyone who had the page bookmarked and tries to go to that section now will end up at a generic "Things To Do" page instead.
Although no one has been able to pinpoint exactly when the pages were removed, it had happened sometime this summer. Some residents, activists and people in the local tourism industry said that erasing the pages sends the message that LGBTQ travelers aren’t welcome in the state.
Asked Republican Gov. DeSantis about, he simply said: “Our view as a state is we are the best place to visit, we’re welcome to all, but we’re not going to be segregating people by these different characteristics.”
Ever since the known "Don't Say Gay" law was passed, DeSantis has turned Florida into a test kitchen for anti-LGBTQ restrictions that have since spread to other Republican states.
Biden-Harris’ Administration issued a strong statement against this anti-LGBTQ legislation in Florida. Secretary Pete Buttigieg replied this is an absolutely dangerous legislation: “And the reason is that it tells youth who are different or whose families are different that there’s something wrong with them out of the gate".
Queer is an 2024 gay romance drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1940s Mexico City, the film follows an outcast American expat William Lee (Daniel Craig) who becomes infatuated with a beautiful younger man called Eugene (Drew Starkey).
The movie, in its first half, is a luscious barbed comedy of liberation, punched along by its anachronistic music choices (Nirvana, Prince, New Order). Lee, who calls himself a “man of independent means” (he has family money), is content to live this life of pleasure and indolence, to revel in his addictions. The Mexico City queer scene we see is both squalid and a kind of paradise. The men share their cruising stories and bitch at each other with bitter understanding.
In its second half, turns into a very different movie, a trippy road comedy about the search for mind-altering transcendence, because Lee wants to find the fabled hallucinogen yage, or ayahuasca, because he’s heard it gives the user telepathic powers and he wants to discover what Eugene really thinks and feels about him. Even as film sinks into a kind of torpor, it is also a fulfillment of the film’s vision of Burroughs, and of queer love.
Asked about the film, Craig said “I always felt that Burroughs had a very public face, and I wanted to know what the private part of him was like,” said Craig, who spoke to a few people who knew him. “I think in ‘Queer’ you sort of see more of that than you do in his other books.”
“There’s nothing intimate about filming a sex scene … we just wanted to make it as touching and as real and as natural as we possibly could,” Craig said. “Drew is a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic actor to work with. We kind of had a laugh. We tried to make it fun,” he added.
A federal complaint was filed in Orlando, Florida by five major publishing houses and several authors, over a law pushed by Republican Gov. DeSantis that makes it easier to ban books.
It claims that a Florida law, HB 1069, which makes it easier to challenge books that contain sexual conduct or are “pornagraphic”, violates the First Amendment rights of publishers, authors, teachers, and students.
The complaint was filed by Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuester, along with SourceBooks, and several authors.
The lawsuit argues that the books that have been removed from schools and libraries using the Florida law are “not remotely obscene” and that the wording of the law is too broad and could be used to encompass a wide range of books depending on interpretation.
Each attempt to ban a book represents a direct attack on every person’s right to freely choose what books to read and what ideas to explore, and to suppress the voices of LGBTQ community.
A survey published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) suggested more than half (52%) of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people in UK report being bullied or harassed at work, in the last five years.
The new poll found:
Around one in five (19%) LGBT people had been exposed to verbal abuse at work in the last five years.
More than a quarter (28%) said they had homophobic, biphobic or transphobic remarks directed at them or made in their presence.
And one in 20 (5%) told that they had experienced physical violence, threats or intimidation at work because of their sexual orientation.
As a result, it is not surprising that nearly three in 10 (29%) of LGBT people keep their sexual orientation a secret at work.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:
“This new report shines a light on the extent of discrimination LGBT workers face in our workplaces. LGBT+ people should be safe and supported at work. But instead, they’re experiencing shockingly high levels of bulling and harassment – including assault.
“Workplace culture clearly needs to change. No one should think that a colleague being LGBT means it’s ok to make discriminatory comments or ask them inappropriate questions – let alone carry out serious acts of assault.
“Ministers must change the law to put the responsibility for preventing harassment on employers, not victims. We need stronger workplace rights to protect all staff from abuse at work. Good, secure jobs are essential to building a motivated, healthy workforce – and are what every worker deserves.
“And employers must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of bullying, harassment and discrimination.”
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is out with a new report that lays bare the dramatic differences in how federal agencies approached LGBTQ+ rights under the administrations of Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
The comprehensive analysis provides a critical look at the policies that have shaped the lives of LGBTQ+ people over the past several years. It reveals that under Biden the LGBTQ+ community is faring much better than under Trump.
“The analysis makes clear what we have seen across the country,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “Actions have consequences. Time and again, the Trump Administration ushered in policies and positions that did damage to LGBTQ+ lives. Meanwhile, in their first term, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken steps to make our lives better. Federal agencies take actions that impact nearly every aspect of our lives. And Americans deserve a government that steps up to defend freedom and equality for all.”
Under Trump, the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights was relentless, according to the report. Agencies systematically rescinded rules and guidance that had previously affirmed legal protections for LGBTQ+ people. In stark contrast, the President Biden administration has worked diligently to restore and expand protections for LGBTQ+ people, HRC reports.
President Joe Biden made history by selecting Kamala Harris as the first woman of color as a vice president (VP), and a rising political star who has demonstrated a commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. Kamala Harris has a strong record of support for LGBTQ+ causes.
