LGBT Rights In The United States
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in the United States have evolved over time and vary on a state-by-state basis. Unlike some other developed nations, the United States does not extend complete legal rights to its LGBT citizens on a national level. Sexual activity between consenting adults (age of consent in each state varies from age 16 to 18) and between adolescents of a close age, who are of the same sex, have been legal nationwide since 2003, pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
Family, marriage, and anti-discrimination laws vary by state. Nine states plus Washington, D.C. currently offer marriage to same-sex couples. California and Rhode Island do not offer same-sex marriages but do recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Additionally, some states offer civil unions or other types of recognition which offer some of the legal benefits and protections of marriage.
Twenty-one states plus Washington, D.C. outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and sixteen states plus Washington, D.C. outlaw discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are also punishable by federal law under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.
Adoption policies in regard to gay and lesbian parents also vary greatly from state to state. Some allow adoption by same-sex couples, while others ban all "unmarried couples" from adoption.
Human Rights Campaign is the largest LGBTârights advocacy group in the U.S.
Read more about LGBT Rights In The United States: LGBT Rights and Federal and State Law, Reparations, Public Opinion
Famous quotes containing the words united states, rights, united and/or states:
“Ethnic life in the United States has become a sort of contest like baseball in which the blacks are always the Chicago Cubs.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“... the constructive power of an image is not measured in terms of its truth, but of the love it inspires.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 15 (1962)
“In the United States all business not transacted over the telephone is accomplished in conjunction with alcohol or food, often under conditions of advanced intoxication. This is a fact of the utmost importance for the visitor of limited funds ... for it means that the most expensive restaurants are, with rare exceptions, the worst.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“I would like to be the first ambassador to the United States from the United States.”
—Barbara Mikulski (b. 1936)