LGBTQ people face significant barriers to accessing health care, including widespread discrimination in healthcare settings. NCLR engages in a wide range of advocacy, including litigation, policy, and legislation, to improve access to and eradicate discrimination in health care, especially with respect to gender-affirming care for transgender people.
Healthcare
Photo Courtesy The Gender Spectrum Collection
Advocacy
Legislation & Policy
Equality Act
Federal
URGENT ACTION: Tell Your Senators to Vote for the Equality Act!
The Equality Act (H.R. 5) would prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodations (things like restaurants, hotels, and theaters), and jury service. It would also prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in programs receiving federal funding. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in the last Congress in May 2019 with a bipartisan vote of 236 to 173 but was blocked from consideration in the Senate by then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The bill was reintroduced by Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) in the 117th Session of the United States Congress on February 18, 2021. A vote is expected in the House shortly, with action following soon after in the Senate.
NCLR has played a leading role in drafting the Equality Act and working for its eventual passage. We have partnered with Black and Pink and others to educate Congress and the public on the Act’s potential to reform the U.S. criminal legal system for LGBTQ people and people of color.
Currently, only 22 states have non-discrimination protections that fully protect LGBTQ individuals. According to the Center for American Progress, more than 1 in 3 LGBTQ Americans have reported facing some form of discrimination within the past year, with the number increasing to 3 in 5 for transgender individuals. This discrimination often causes substantial harm to the psychological and economic wellbeing of the LGBTQ community and creates undue difficulties for many LGBTQ people in accessing medically necessary healthcare – most dramatically for the transgender population and people of color.
The most recent polling from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) shows that more than 80 percent of all Americans (including a majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans) support comprehensive nondiscrimination protections that include LGBTQ individuals. FiveThirtyEight has also similarly found that President Biden’s executive order mandating that federal agencies implement the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County in nondiscrimination policies was the most popular of his early executive actions, with the support of an overwhelming 83% of Americans.
More than 600 national, state, and local organizations have signed on to urge the swift passage of the Equality Act, in addition to a broad coalition of faith-based groups and 335 major corporations, showing the breadth of support the legislation has maintained since its passage in the House in 2019. NCLR is a member of the Freedom and Opportunity for All coalition (along with 16 other partner organizations) advocating for the urgent passage of the Equality Act.
Cases & Advocacy
Boe v. Marshall
Alabama
On April 8, 2022, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law SB 184. The law directly targets transgender adolescents and their families by imposing criminal penalties on any individual, including parents and healthcare providers, who facilitate or provide essential medical care to transgender adolescents for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
Resources
Press Release
HRC, NCLR, Over 100 LGBTQ+, Health, Religious Advocacy Organizations Call for Increased Action and Funding to Combat Monkeypox (MPXV)
September 28, 2022. This week, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) penned a letter to elected leaders calling for more funding and action to help stop the MPXV outbreak. Over 100 LGBTQ+, health and religious advocacy organizations – including PrEP4All and the National Coalition of STD Directors – signed on to the letter which was sent to the Biden Administration and Congress. This letter comes at a time in which Congress has decided not to include funding for MPXV in the Continuing Resolution to fund the government into December. This decision will only hamper ongoing efforts to end MPXV at a critical moment when the outbreak can still be contained.
Publications
FAQ: Documents and Protections for LGBTQ People and Their Families During COVID-19 Crisis
In the current Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, LGBTQ+ people may be considering how to protect themselves and their families, and what they wish to happen if they become seriously ill or incapacitated. This FAQ provides information about documents and other legal protections LGBTQ+ people can create to reflect their wishes. View FAQ
