Politics, Law & Rights

303 Creative v. Elenis

303 Creative v. Elenis is the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a website designer with a First Amendment free-speech objection could not be required to create custom wedding sites for same-sex couples.

American Dream and Promise Act, The

The American Dream and Promise Act is proposed federal legislation that would give Dreamers and certain other immigrants a path to permanent residency and citizenship.

Anti-Drag Law

An anti-drag law is legislation that restricts or criminalizes drag performances, typically by banning them in public spaces or where minors may be present.

Ban on Transgender Military Service

A ban on transgender military service is a government policy barring transgender people from serving openly in the armed forces.

Banned Books

Banned books are titles that have been removed or restricted from schools, libraries, or public access, and LGBTQ+ stories are among the most frequently targeted.

Bathroom Bill

A bathroom bill is legislation that restricts which public restrooms and other sex-segregated facilities a person may use based on their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.

Blood Ban

The blood ban refers to decades of U.S. policy that barred or restricted gay and bisexual men from donating blood, replaced in 2023 by a screening process that asks all donors the same risk questions regardless of sexual orientation.

Bostock v. Clayton County

Bostock v. Clayton County is the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal law banning workplace sex discrimination also protects gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees.

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Bowers v. Hardwick was the 1986 Supreme Court decision that upheld state sodomy laws criminalizing consensual gay sex, later overturned by Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.

Buggery

Buggery is an archaic legal term, rooted in British law, for anal or bestial intercourse, long used to criminalize sex between men.

Civil Union

A civil union is a legally recognized partnership that gives couples many marriage-like rights, originally created as a step toward recognition for same-sex couples before full marriage equality.

Conversion Therapy

Conversion therapy is any discredited practice that claims to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Conversion Therapy Ban

A conversion therapy ban is a law that prohibits practitioners from attempting to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, usually protecting minors.

Criminal Justice And Public Order Act (1994)

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was a wide-ranging UK law that, among many measures, lowered the age of consent for sex between men from 21 to 18.

Discrimination

Discrimination is the unjust treatment of people based on protected characteristics such as sexual orientation, gender identity, race, or religion.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a framework of organizational policies and practices meant to ensure fair representation, opportunity, and belonging for people of all backgrounds, including LGBTQ+ people.

Do No Harm Act

The Do No Harm Act is proposed U.S. legislation that would amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act so it cannot be used to justify discrimination or harm against others, including LGBTQ+ people.

Don't Ask Dont Tell

Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) was the U.S. military policy in effect from 1994 to 2011 that let gay, lesbian, and bisexual people serve only if they kept their sexual orientation hidden.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)

Don't Ask, Don't Tell was the U.S. military policy from 1994 to 2011 that let gay, lesbian, and bisexual people serve only if they kept their orientation hidden.

Don't Say Gay

"Don't Say Gay" is the popular name for Florida's 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act, which restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.

End Racial and Religious Profiling Act

The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act is proposed federal legislation that would prohibit law enforcement from relying on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation when deciding whom to stop, search, or investigate.

Enda (Employment Non-Discrimination Act)

ENDA was proposed federal legislation that would have banned workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and, in later versions, gender identity.

Equal Rights

Equal rights is the demand that LGBTQ+ people receive the same legal protections, recognition, and dignity as everyone else.

Equality

Equality means giving all people the same rights and treatment under the law regardless of characteristics like sexual orientation or gender identity.

Equality Act

The Equality Act is proposed U.S. federal legislation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes across civil rights law.

Equity

Equity means giving people the specific resources and support they each need to reach fair outcomes, rather than treating everyone identically.

Every Child Deserves a Family Act

The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act is proposed federal legislation to bar federally funded child welfare agencies from discriminating against foster or adoptive families based on sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, sex, or marital status.

Fair and Equal Housing Act

The Fair and Equal Housing Act is proposed federal legislation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics under the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

FAMILY Act

The FAMILY Act is proposed federal legislation that would create a national paid family and medical leave insurance program for U.S. workers.

Gay Cure Therapy

"Gay cure therapy" is an outdated name for so-called conversion therapy, the discredited and harmful practice of trying to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Gay Rights

Gay rights is the movement to secure equal legal and civil protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Gender Recognition Act

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is UK law that lets transgender people obtain a certificate giving legal recognition to their gender.

Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC)

A Gender Recognition Certificate is a legal document that allows an adult in the UK to change their legally recognized gender.

Gender-Affirming Care Ban

A gender-affirming care ban is a law that prohibits or restricts medical treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones, or surgery for transgender people, most often specifically for minors.

Global Respect Act

The Global Respect Act is proposed U.S. legislation that would impose sanctions, including visa bans, on foreign officials responsible for serious human rights violations against LGBTQ people.

GLOBE Act

The GLOBE Act is proposed U.S. legislation that would make defending LGBTQ human rights worldwide a permanent priority of American foreign policy and diplomacy.

Gun Violence Prevention Measures

Gun violence prevention is a policy and advocacy priority that many LGBTQ+ organizations treat as a community safety issue because queer and trans people face elevated rates of firearm-related hate violence.

Healthy Families Act

The Healthy Families Act is a proposed federal law that would let workers earn paid sick days to care for themselves or a family member.

Heteronormativity

Heteronormativity is the widespread assumption that heterosexuality is the default, normal, or preferred sexual orientation.

Heterosexism

Heterosexism is a belief system that treats heterosexuality as the norm and as superior to other sexual orientations, along with the discrimination that flows from that assumption.

Homonationalism

Homonationalism is a critical term for the way some states and movements use acceptance of gay rights as a badge of being modern or civilized, often to justify hostility toward other groups.

Homophobia

Homophobia is fear of, prejudice against, or hostility toward gay and lesbian people, ranging from personal bias to systemic discrimination.

Inclusion

Inclusion means actively building environments where all LGBTQ+ people are genuinely welcomed, valued, and able to participate fully rather than merely tolerated or present.

Internalized Homophobia

Internalized homophobia is the process by which LGBTQ+ people absorb society's anti-gay prejudice and turn it inward, often as shame, self-doubt, or self-hatred.

Internalized oppression

Internalized oppression is the process by which members of a marginalized group absorb society's negative messages about their identity and come to believe them about themselves.

International Human Rights Defense Act

The International Human Rights Defense Act is proposed U.S. legislation that would make defending LGBTQI+ people abroad a foreign policy priority and permanently establish a State Department Special Envoy for their human rights.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how overlapping identities like race, gender, class, and sexuality combine to create unique experiences of privilege or oppression.

James Obergefell

James Obergefell is the lead plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court case that made marriage equality the law across the United States.

Jury Non-Discrimination Act / Jury ACCESS Act

The Jury ACCESS Act is proposed federal legislation that would bar excluding people from federal juries because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Lavender Scare

The Lavender Scare was a Cold War moral panic in which thousands of gay and lesbian employees were fired or forced out of the U.S. federal government because of their sexuality.

Lawrence v. Texas

Lawrence v. Texas (2003) was the Supreme Court ruling that struck down state sodomy laws and decriminalized private same-sex intimacy nationwide.

Log Cabin Republicans

The largest organization of LGBTQ conservatives and their allies within the U.S. Republican Party.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013

A UK law that made marriage between same-sex couples legal in England and Wales, with the first weddings taking place on March 29, 2014.

Marriage Equality

Marriage equality is the legal recognition of same-sex marriage on the same terms as opposite-sex marriage.

Matthew Shepard And James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

A 2009 U.S. federal law that expanded hate crime protections to cover a victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability.

Obergefell v. Hodges

Obergefell v. Hodges is the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

Open To All (OTA)

Open to All is a nonprofit nondiscrimination campaign that asks businesses to publicly commit to welcoming everyone, regardless of who they are.

Pinkwashing

Pinkwashing is the use of LGBTQ-friendly messaging by a company, government, or institution to build a progressive image while doing little for actual LGBTQ equality or to distract from harmful practices.

PrEP Access and Coverage Act

Proposed U.S. legislation that would require insurance plans to cover HIV prevention medication (PrEP) with no out-of-pocket cost.

Race

Race is a social construct that groups people by physical traits and ancestry, with real effects on power, privilege, and how they are treated.

Racism

Racism is prejudice and discrimination based on race, operating through individual attitudes and through institutions and social structures.

Real Education for Healthy Youth Act

The Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act is proposed U.S. federal legislation to fund comprehensive, medically accurate, LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education instead of abstinence-only programs.

Respect for Marriage Act

The Respect for Marriage Act is a 2022 federal law that requires the U.S. government and all states to recognize valid same-sex and interracial marriages, and that repealed the Defense of Marriage Act.

Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act

The Ryan White CARE Act is the U.S. federal law, first passed in 1990, that funds HIV care and treatment for low-income people who lack adequate health coverage.

Safe Schools Improvement Act

The Safe Schools Improvement Act is a proposed U.S. federal bill that would require schools receiving federal funds to adopt anti-bullying policies explicitly covering sexual orientation and gender identity.

Second Parent Adoption

Second-parent adoption is a legal process that lets a partner adopt their partner's child so both become legal parents, without ending the first parent's rights.

Section 28

Section 28 was a UK law in force from 1988 to 2003 that banned local authorities and schools from "promoting" homosexuality.

Sexism

Sexism is prejudice, discrimination, or stereotyping based on a person's sex or gender, most often directed at women and girls.

Sodomy

Sodomy is a legal and historical term for certain sexual acts, most often anal or oral sex, long used to criminalize gay and bisexual men.

Sodomy Laws

Sodomy laws are statutes criminalizing certain sexual acts, most often anal and oral sex, historically used to prosecute and persecute LGBTQ+ people.

State-Level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts

State-level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts are laws that let people or businesses cite religious belief as a legal defense, which critics warn can be used to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act

The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act is proposed U.S. federal legislation that would ban commercial conversion therapy by treating it as consumer fraud.

Trans Athlete

A trans athlete is a transgender person who competes in sports, a subject at the center of ongoing policy debates over inclusion and fairness.

Trans Ban

A trans ban is a policy that prohibits transgender people from participating in a given activity or space, such as military service or sports, based on their gender identity.

Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act

The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act is proposed U.S. legislation that would require colleges receiving federal aid to adopt policies banning harassment, including harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

United States v. Skrmetti

United States v. Skrmetti is the 2025 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding Tennessee's ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors.

Voting Rights Advancement Act

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is proposed U.S. legislation that would restore federal oversight of voting law changes in places with a history of discrimination.