Nondiscrimination Protections

The Center for American Progress has been at the forefront of the effort to pass nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people and their families at all levels of government. The following products detail the types of discrimination LGBTQ people experience and the impact of that discrimination, showing the need for and benefit of comprehensive LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections in areas such as employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, and education.

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Revolutionizing the Workplace: Why Long COVID and the Increase of Disabled Workers Require a New Approach Report
A doctor holds a patients hand during an appointment.

Revolutionizing the Workplace: Why Long COVID and the Increase of Disabled Workers Require a New Approach

Using new data from the U.S. Census Bureau to examine the impacts of long COVID on the labor market, this report recommends that employers, unions, and policymakers create better workplaces for disabled workers and all workers.

Mia Ives-Rublee, Rose Khattar, Anona Neal

The 32nd Anniversary of the ADA Past Event
Salvadoran Walter Aguilar, 33, --who lost his leg in a car accident in 2001-- a polypropylene prostheses maker, attends a patient of

The 32nd Anniversary of the ADA

Improving the U.S. Asylum System for Disabled Noncitizens

Fines and Fees Are a Barrier to Criminal Record-Clearing Article
View of a Black man in profile, wearing dark winter clothes, walking on a sidewalk holding a large blue bucket. He is scattering de-icing salt in front of a brown brick/stone building with a small grassy area between the building and the sidewalk, although it's entirely covered in a tin layer of snow with brown leaves visible.

Fines and Fees Are a Barrier to Criminal Record-Clearing

Jurisdictions can take several steps to eliminate the financial barriers imposed by fines and fees, which would help system-impacted individuals clear their records and reenter society.

Gus Tupper, Akua Amaning, Jaboa Lake

How To Regulate Tech: A Technology Policy Framework for Online Services Report
A black man wearing a dark gray beanie and a woman with dark hair and glasses, both in their twenties or thirties, are pictured staring at a large computer monitor (screen is not visible to the viewer.)

How To Regulate Tech: A Technology Policy Framework for Online Services

Online services have become an essential and ubiquitous part of American life. This report proposes a new regulatory framework to address existing harms, promote equitable growth, and protect the public interest online.

Erin Simpson, Adam Conner

LGBTQ People of Color Encounter Heightened Discrimination Article
A protestor holds a “Resist” sign at a rally in support of transgender people at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, February 2017. (Getty/Spencer Platt)

LGBTQ People of Color Encounter Heightened Discrimination

A nationally representative survey conducted in June 2020 by the Center for American Progress highlights that LGBTQ people of color are more likely than white LGBTQ individuals to encounter discrimination in a variety of settings.

Lindsay Mahowald

Fair Play Report
A teacher plays softball with a group of students, May 2019. (Getty/Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald)

Fair Play

Despite recent legislative pushback, schools across the country are recognizing the important benefits of equal participation in sports for all young people, including transgender youth.

Shoshana K. Goldberg

The Disability Community Needs Paid Family and Medical Leave Article
A 10-year-old holds her younger brother, who has cerebral palsy, in their family's three-bedroom house in the Kenilworth neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C., December 2019. (Getty/The Washington Post/Sarah L. Voisin)

The Disability Community Needs Paid Family and Medical Leave

Paid family and medical leave is a disability rights issue and helps provide people with disabilities the economic security they need to manage their health, care for loved ones, or receive care from their family.

Diana Boesch, Rebecca Cokley

The Trump Administration’s Latest Attack on Transgender People Facing Homelessness Report
 (A hall in the Seattle Center has been turned into a temporary men's shelter in Seattle on April 6, 2020.)

The Trump Administration’s Latest Attack on Transgender People Facing Homelessness

As homelessness among transgender people increases, the Trump administration is attempting to cruelly and illegally restrict their access to critically needed housing services.

Thee Santos, Lindsay Mahowald, Sharita Gruberg

The Nondiscrimination Protections of Millions of Workers Are Under Threat Report
 (A worker monitors a production line for a government contractor in North Carolina on January 11, 2019.)

The Nondiscrimination Protections of Millions of Workers Are Under Threat

The U.S. Department of Labor is trying to undermine nondiscrimination protections for employees of federal contractors—a move that would harm millions of workers, including countless LGBTQ people.

Frank J. Bewkes, Caitlin Rooney

Attack on the ACA Article
An examination table sits in an empty room in a Blacksville, West Virginia, health clinic, March 2017. (Getty/Brendan Smialowski)

Attack on the ACA

Insurance companies could save billions of dollars under the Trump administration’s proposed rule to undermine patient protections under the Affordable Care Act.

Sharita Gruberg

Redefining Rural America Report
SUNNY SOUTH, AL-NOV 01: Just Northwest of Sunny South is Sweet Water, Alabama. Locals can be counted on to attend the Friday night football games. Though the area is poor, it's hoped that the opening of factories such as Golden Dragon can help boost the local economy. Alabama state and local officials lobbied to convince the Chinese-owned Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group (they make copper tubing for air conditioners) to move to Wilcox County Alabama, where jobs were desperately needed. The plant, near the town of Sunny South now employs about 200 workers with some mixed results. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Redefining Rural America

The United States must build an inclusive narrative of rural communities.

Olugbenga Ajilore, Caius Z. Willingham

Faith Leaders Rally in Support of the Equality Act Video

Faith Leaders Rally in Support of the Equality Act

Faith leaders across the United States are showing support for the Equality Act, a bill that would grant members of the LGBTQ community consistent protections.

Kurt Mueller, Emily London, Rob Keithan, 1 More Laura E. Durso

Reclaiming Religious Freedom Article
An interfaith candlelight vigil remembers victims of the Holocaust, New York, January 2016. (Getty/Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket)

Reclaiming Religious Freedom

The right to religious freedom is an essential American protection, yet it has been distorted in recent years to cause harm and discrimination.

Emily London, Maggie Siddiqi

Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination Took a Foster Child From Her Loving Foster Dads Video

Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination Took a Foster Child From Her Loving Foster Dads

John Freml—whose foster daughter was taken from his home—is one of a growing number of LGBTQ individuals who has faced discrimination in adoption and foster care.

Jasmine Hardy, Frank J. Bewkes

Welcoming All Families Report

Welcoming All Families

Religious exemptions allowing child placing agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ prospective parents will likely reduce the number of families available to adopt, further overburdening the child welfare system and harming the best interests of children in care.

Frank J. Bewkes, Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Caitlin Rooney, 3 More Laura E. Durso, Joe Kroll, Elly Wong

People of Faith Support LGBTQ Equality in a Philadelphia Child Welfare Case Article
A reverend of a Unitarian Universalist church in Massachusetts leads a song with other participants rallying in support of the DREAM Act. Unitarian Universalist leaders are just some of the people and organizations of faith who have signed on to support LGBTQ equality in a Philadelphia child welfare case. (Getty/Scott J. Ferrell)

People of Faith Support LGBTQ Equality in a Philadelphia Child Welfare Case

Religious organizations and people of faith affirm that LGBTQ individuals should be allowed to adopt and foster children from child welfare organizations without facing discrimination.

Emily London

Disaggregating the Data for Bisexual People Fact Sheet

Disaggregating the Data for Bisexual People

A new analysis from the Center for American Progress shows key differences in health, economic security, and other indicators between bisexual and monosexual people.

Shabab Ahmed Mirza

Religious Liberty for a Select Few Report
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on

Religious Liberty for a Select Few

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ guidance is already empowering appointees throughout the administration to attack the equality and legal protections of LGBTQ people, women, and religious minorities.

Sharita Gruberg, Frank J. Bewkes, Elizabeth Platt, 2 More Katherine Franke, Claire Markham

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Related Priorities

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

We pursue climate action that meets the crisis’s urgency, creates good-quality jobs, benefits disadvantaged communities, and restores U.S. credibility on the global stage.

Strengthening Health

Strengthening Health

We work to strengthen public health systems and improve health care coverage, access, and affordability.

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

We apply a racial equity lens in developing and advancing policies that aim to root out entrenched systemic racism to ensure everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

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