Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in the United States have developed over time, with public opinion and jurisprudence changing significantly since the late 1980s. Lesbian, gay and bisexual rights are considered advanced, but rights of transgender people have faced significant erosion since the beginning of Donald Trump's second presidency.
In 1962, beginning with Illinois, states began to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity, and in 2003, through Lawrence v. Texas, all remaining laws against same-sex sexual activity were invalidated. In 2004, beginning with Massachusetts, states began to offer same-sex marriage, and in 2015, through Obergefell v. Hodges, all states were required to offer it. In many states and municipalities, LGBTQ Americans are explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and access to public accommodations. Many LGBTQ rights in the United States have been established by the United States Supreme Court, which invalidated state laws banning protected class recognition based upon homosexuality, struck down sodomy laws nationwide, struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, made same-sex marriage legal nationwide, and prohibited employment discrimination against gay and transgender employees. LGBTQ-related anti-discrimination laws regarding housing and private and public services vary by state. Twenty-three states plus Washington, D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and twenty-two states plus Washington, D.C., outlaw discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Family law also varies by state. Adoption of children by same-sex married couples is legal nationwide since Obergefell v. Hodges. According to Human Rights Campaign's 2024 state index, the states with the most comprehensive LGBTQ rights legislation include Vermont, California, Minnesota, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Oregon, Maine, Hawaii, and New Jersey.
Hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are punishable by federal law under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which provides funding and technical assistance to jurisdictions to help more effectively investigate hate crimes, but many states lack laws that cover sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Public opinion is overwhelmingly supportive of same-sex marriage and it is no longer considered a significant topic of public debate. A 2022 Grinnell College National Poll found that 74% of Americans agree that same-sex marriage should be a guaranteed right while 13% disagree. According to the General Social Survey, support for same-sex marriage among 18–34 year olds is near-universal.
Public opinion on transgender issues is divided. Top issues regarding gender identity include bathroom access, athletics, and transgender-related healthcare for minors.
After transgender people faced significant erosions in rights on the state level in Republican ran states over the course of three years, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 20, 2025, directing the United States government to remove all federal protections for transgender individuals and remove all recognition of transgender identity. The order declared that only male and female genders are recognized, and states that official documents must reflect biological sex (either male or female) assigned at birth. Previously, it was possible for US passport holders to receive either gender marker, or an "X" marker, simply by declaration during a passport application. Trump also banned trans people from military service and halted financing to gender-affirming care for individuals younger than 19. References to transgender people were scrubbed from government websites, in some cases by using the acronym "LGB." Over 350 pages about the LGBTQ community at large were removed entirely.
Public opinion Public opinion of same-sex marriage in the United States has changed significantly since the late 1980s; in the early 2020s, an overwhelming majority of Americans approved of the legality of these marriages, with younger people more likely to express support.
From 1988 to 2009, support for recognized same-sex marriage increased between 1% and 1.5% per year, and accelerated thereafter, rising above 50% in Pew Research Center polling for the first time in 2011. Furthermore, a 2012 Gallup poll found 61% support for allowing gay and lesbian individuals to adopt children.
"The transformation of America's response to homosexuality", Jeremiah Garretson wrote in 2018, "has been — and continues to be — one of the most rapid and sustained shifts in mass attitudes since the start of public polling."
A 2021 Public Religion Research Institute poll about legal recognition of same-sex marriage found majority support (defined as at least 50% support) in 47 states, ranging from 50% in South Carolina to 85% in Massachusetts. A 48th state, Alabama, had plurality support (defined as more supporters than opponents, with neither side reaching 50%). Only Arkansas and Mississippi had majority opposition. When PRRI repeated the poll in 2022 and 2023, no state had majority opposition. A 2022 Quinnipiac University poll found 68% support nationwide. Gallup's 2022 and 2023 nationwide polls found 71% support; however, in 2024, this support decreased to 69%.
In 2024, the PRRI found that the support for same-sex marriage and for LGBTQ discrimination protections in US states is inversely correlated with the support for Christian nationalism.
Two 2025 Gallup polls indicated that support for LGBTQ+ rights was polarizing among party lines, with the first poll finding that 88% of Democrats and 76% of independents are in support of same-sex marriage, but only 41% of Republicans in support of same-sex marriage. The first poll also found that 86% of Democrats and 69% of independents saw same-sex relationships as morally acceptable, compared to only 38% of Republicans.
The second poll found that 69% of Americans, 90% of Republicans, 72% of independents and 41% of Democrats, supported laws that required transgender athletes to participate in sports aligned with their assigned sex at birth. 66% of Americans, 89% of Republicans, 66% of independents and 38% of Democrats, supported laws that required assigned sex at birth to be listed on government documents such as drivers licenses and passports. 40% of Americans, 70% of Democrats, 45% of independents and only 9% of Republicans, believe that gender transition is morally acceptable.
Legality of same-sex sexual activity
On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that intimate consensual sexual conduct is part of the liberty protected by substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, explicitly overruled Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 decision that found sodomy laws to be constitutional. Despite this ruling, some states have not repealed their sodomy laws and local law enforcement officers have used these statutes to harass or arrest gay people. After the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" in 2011, the U.S. Congress repealed sodomy laws in the U.S. military in 2014.
Prior to the 2003 Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, same-sex sexual activity was illegal in 14 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. military. By that time, 29 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories had repealed their state's sodomy laws by legislative action.Same-sex activity had become legal in Illinois in 1962, Connecticut in 1971, Colorado and Oregon in 1972, Delaware and Hawaii in 1973, Massachusetts and Ohio in 1974, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota in 1975, California, Maine, Washington, and West Virginia in 1976, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming in 1977, Nebraska in 1978, New Jersey in 1979, Alaska, New York, and Pennsylvania in 1980, Wisconsin in 1983, Kentucky in 1992, Nevada and District of Columbia in 1993, Tennessee in 1996, Montana in 1997, Georgia and Rhode Island in 1998, Maryland and Missouri (Western District counties only) in 1999, Arizona and Minnesota in 2001, and Arkansas in 2002State-sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, authored by Lucas Paoli Itaborahy, May 2014 Twelve states have had state Supreme Court or state Appeals courts rule that their state's sodomy laws were unconstitutional. Georgia, Louisiana, and Massachusetts, have all had their state sodomy laws struck down by the courts, but the legislatures have not repealed those laws. On April 18, 2013, the governor of Montana signed a bill repealing that state's sodomy law; it had previously been nullified by the Montana Supreme Court. On April 23, 2014, the governor of Virginia signed a bill repealing that state's sodomy law. Utah and Alabama repealed their sodomy laws in 2019 and Idaho did in 2022. On October 1, 2020, a bill repealing Maryland's sodomy law went into effect without the governor's signature, and a bill repealing its "unnatural sex practices" law went into effect without the governor's signature in May 2023. Minnesota also repealed its sodomy law in 2023.
12 states either have not yet formally repealed their laws against sexual activity among consenting adults or have not revised them to accurately reflect their true scope in the aftermath of Lawrence v. Texas. Often, the sodomy law was drafted to also encompass other forms of sexual conduct such as bestiality, and no attempt has subsequently succeeded in separating them. 9 states' statutes purport to ban all forms of sodomy, some including oral intercourse, regardless of the participants' genders: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina. 3 states specifically target their statutes at same-sex relations only: Kansas, Kentucky, and Texas.
The age of consent in each jurisdiction varies but, in most jurisdictions, it is equal to the age of consent for heterosexual sex. The exception to this is Texas, whose statute books still hold an outdated Romeo and Juliet law that makes the age of consent for gay and lesbian teenagers unequal to that for heterosexual ones. Researchers have shown that sodomy law repeals led to a decline in the number of arrests for disorderly conduct, prostitution, and other sex offenses, as well as a reduction in arrests for drug and alcohol consumption, in line with the hypothesis that sodomy law repeals enhanced mental health and lessened minority stress.
Recognition of marriage and adoption for same-sex couples
Marriage
The movement to obtain civil marriage rights and benefits for same-sex couples in the United States began in the 1970s but remained unsuccessful for over 40 years. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state and the sixth jurisdiction in the world to legalize same-sex marriage following the Supreme Judicial Court's decision six months earlier. Before nationwide legalization, same-sex marriage became legal in 36 states: 24 states by court order, nine by legislative action, and three by referendum. Some states had legalized same-sex marriage by more than one of the three actions.