Education is one of the clearest predictors of a person’s overall long-term health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, school is not a safe and welcoming place for many LGBTQ students. From unchecked harassment to discriminatory school policies, LGBTQ students are not given the chance they deserve to learn and grow. NCLR’s legislative advocacy and litigation is at the the forefront of dismantling the barriers LGBTQ students experience when trying to access their education—as it has been for nearly thirty years.
Education
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
Gender and Sexuality Alliance v. Spearman
South Carolina
NCLR and co-counsel filed a federal lawsuit challenging a South Carolina statute that prohibits public school health education from including any discussion of same-sex relationships except in the context of sexually transmitted diseases. The district court entered a consent decree and judgment declaring the challenged provision unconstitutional and barring its enforcement in South Carolina.
Resources
Press Release
NCLR Hails Historic Update to Title IX Rules
June 23, 2022. Today, on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the historic federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in our nation’s public schools, the U.S. Department of Education has issued regulations codifying federal court decisions holding that the law protects LGBTQ individuals. Included in the proposed new regulations are the most robust protections ever against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The proposed changes would guarantee protections for LGBTQ students – including transgender youth – in public schools.
