Wins for Transgender Americans

August 22, 2019

With an astonishing 66% of the vote, Massachusetts becomes the first state to uphold nondiscrimination protections for its transgender citizens at the ballot box. Residents of Anchorage, Alaska vote to uphold protections for transgender people. Republican-controlled New Hampshire becomes the 19^th state to protect transgender people from discrimination.

Grantees in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia help secure executive orders to protect LGBT state employees from discrimination.

The Gill Foundation partners with the Ad Council to create Beyond I Do – a public education campaign targeted to the 31 states that do not protect their LGBT residents from discrimination – which shares the stories of LGBT Americans who have been fired, evicted, or refused service because of who they are.

In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court considers for the first time whether or not business owners can refuse service to LGBT people based on religious beliefs. However, their narrow ruling ultimately leaves the question unanswered.