On February 11th, MAP released Mapping LGBTQ Equality: 2010 to 2020, a new report that offers a fresh perspective on the current legal status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people and tallies nearly 40 LGBTQ-related laws and policies across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.
In 2010, Maryland was ranked “low” in the overall LGBTQ policy tally. States with this ranking generally lack nondiscrimination protections and most key protective laws for LGBTQ people. In 2020, Maryland has moved up two rankings to “medium”. These states have made important progress on key issues in several areas. MAP tracks state and territory progress on LGBTQ-inclusive policies, such as relationship and parental recognition, nondiscrimination, religious exemptions, LGBTQ youth, health care, criminal justice, and identity documents.
While FreeState Justice is proud of the recognition of the meaningful progress Maryland has made over the past decade for the LGBTQ community, our work is not done. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia rank above us at “high”, indicative of significant progress toward LGBTQ policy areas. Moving forward, we will work to advance inclusive and nondiscrimination policies in Maryland – such as the banning of transgender panic defense, non-discrimination and protection provisions in education and health care facilities, and reforming identity document practices — to improve the lives of all LGBTQ Marylanders.
You can read more about how local, state, and federal laws affect LGBTQ people in Maryland and across the country here. We also hope you will join us by learning more about our 2020 policy priorities and supporting the impact of our work.
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