Where You Live Increasingly Decides Your LGBTQ+ Rights in the U.S., New Report Finds
Basic LGBTQ+ protections increasingly depend on your state, a new report finds, as states split apart at different speeds since 2020.
A new report highlights just how LGBTQ+ policies across the 50 states have changed over the last six years — from January 2020 to July 2026.
Published by the Movement Advancement Project, which tracks LGBTQ+ legislation across the United States, the report “Uneven Ground: Six Years of Diverging LGBTQ Policy and What’s at Stake in 2026” argues that 2020 was the year that started a new wave of anti-LGBTQ+ politics, “characterized by speed, breadth, extremism, and, perhaps more so than anything else, its near-laser focus on transgender people.”
“Political attacks on LGBTQ people have escalated so quickly since 2020 that it can be easy to lose sight of just how much has changed, even in such a relatively short time,” Logan Casey, MAP’s Director of Policy Research, said in a press release.
The report says that there is “asymmetric polarization” taking place in the country. The organization explains that states are moving away from each other when it comes to laws on queer issues at various speeds.
It argues that this has led to basic protections for queer people being increasingly dependent on where the person lives.
Most of the changes to state laws around LGBTQ+ rights have targeted transgender people, according to the MAP report.
While many states improved in their protections of LGBTQ+ rights generally, the report notes that where things got worse, they got really worse. That is especially true for trans people.
In the states that attacked trans rights, the report also found that those attacks were also “exploited to advance a larger anti-LGBTQ agenda.”
“Our research helps tell that story and shows just how dramatically these attacks have undermined both lived and legal equality for LGBTQ people across the country,” Casey said. “It also shows the clear and important progress made in at least some states. As we look forward, the question that remains is not whether the ground shifts again for LGBTQ people, but when and in what direction.”
MAP also points out that in this midterm election in November, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington have anti-trans measures on the ballot for people to vote on. These measures range from sports participation to gender-affirming care. The organization notes this is the first time voters are asked to weigh in on these issues.
“As a result, this election may mark a critical turning point for LGBTQ and especially transgender rights today,” MAP states.
