LGBTQ+ Rights Are on The Ballot: Here’s What They Are

November 3, 2026 Alex Cooper

woman sits at a polling station and votes in Iowa

A woman votes at a polling location on Election Day during the midterm elections in Marion, Iowa on November 3, 2026. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP

As voters take to the polls to decide which party will control Congress, in seven states, voters will also vote on measures affecting LGBTQ+ lives.

Across the country on Tuesday, voters will be casting their ballots.

The midterm elections will be a test for Republican President Donald Trump as Democrats are favored to make gains in the House and potentially in the Senate.

In seven states, they will be deciding on ballot measures that directly impact the lives of LGBTQ+ people. Most of those measures impact trans youth’s participation in sports and access to gender-affirming care, but some protect against discrimination and repeal anti-marriage equality language from state constitutions.

Here are the states that have LGBTQ+ measures on the midterms’ ballots and what those measures are:

Arizona
- Voters will choose either “yes” or “no” on Proposition 318 (“Protect Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act”), which is a new proposal that would extend the current law — one that is currently blocked by courts —banning trans girls from school sports leagues to also include recreational sports leagues, like local clubs. Trans girls would also be banned from private spaces like locker rooms or showers that more align with their gender identity. It would also allow people to sue over violations of the law.
Colorado
- Coloradans will vote on Proposition 134, which would prevent trans students — from elementary school to college — from joining sports leagues that match their gender identity. A vote “yes” would approve the measure, and a vote “no” would continue allowing schools and associations to make their own policies around trans youth in sports. They will also be voting on Proposition 135, which would outlaw certain gender-affirming surgeries for minors and how state and federal funding could pay for them. These surgeries are extremely rare. State medical associations have come out opposing the move, arguing that medical decisions need to be made between patients and their doctors.
Missouri
- Missouri’s Amendment 3 affects both abortion access and gender-affirming care for minors. The measure would repeal a vote in 2024 that protected abortion at the state level. The amendment would force minors to get parental consent before an abortion and would ban abortion in pretty much all cases, except for rape and incest (and only in the first trimester). It would also ban gender-affirming care for minors. While a law already exists banning such care, that law expires next year. The amendment would put the ban in the state constitution. The vote is “yes” or “no” on the amendment.
Nebraska
- For Nebraskans, they will be voting on Initiative Measure 442, which would effectively bar trans kids from playing on teams that fit their gender identity. A law already exists banning trans youth from their teams, but this would place it in the state constitution.
Vermont
- Voters in Vermont will be voting on Proposal 4, an equal protection amendment to the state constitution. The amendment would enshrine protections under state law regardless of “race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and national origin.”
Virginia
- In Virginia, voters will vote on Question 2, which would repeal the state constitution’s provision, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman while also prohibiting the state from refusing marriage licenses based on sex, gender, or race. The law is not enforceable because of Supreme Court decisions, but it has remained in the constitution. A vote “yes” would approve that repeal; a vote “no” would leave the constitution as it is.
Washington
- Washington voters will choose to approve Initiative IL26-638, which would ban trans girls from competing in certain sports with cis girls. The measure would force all students who want to play on a girls’ team to have medical verification of their sex assigned at birth.