LGBT rights in the United States | Wikipedia audio article
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Date: 21/11/2018

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LGBT rights in the United States

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SUMMARY
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States of America vary by jurisdiction. Since June 26, 2003, sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex as well as same-sex adolescents of a close age has been legal nationwide, pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. As of  June 26, 2015, all states license and recognize marriage between same-sex couples as a result of the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
However, the United States has no federal law outlawing discrimination nationwide other than from federal executive orders which have a more limited scope than from protections through federal legislation. This leaves residents of some states unprotected against discrimination in employment, housing, and private or public services. Thus, LGBT persons in the United States may face challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.
The strongest expansions in LGBT rights in the United States have come from the United States Supreme Court. In four landmark rulings between the years 1996 and 2015, the Supreme Court invalidated a state law banning protected class recognition based upon homosexuality, struck down sodomy laws nationwide, struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, and made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
LGBT rights-related laws regarding family and anti-discrimination still vary by state. The age of consent in each jurisdiction varies from age 16 to 18, with some jurisdictions maintaining different ages of consent for males/females or for same-sex/opposite-sex relations.
Twenty-two states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and twenty states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico 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. In 2012 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not allow gender identity-based employment discrimination because it is considered sexual discrimination. In 2015, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concluded that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not allow sexual orientation discrimination in employment because it is a form of sex discrimination.Adoption of children by same-sex married couples is legal nationwide since June 2015 following the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, though Mississippi did not have its same-sex adoption ban struck down by a federal court until March 2016. Policies regarding adoption vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some states allow adoption by all couples, while others ban all unmarried couples from adoption.Civil rights for LGBT people in the United States are advocated by a variety of organizations at all levels and concentrations of political and legal life, including the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.