January 2022 Updates to Equality Maps

MAP's interactive LGBTQ Equality Maps provide a comprehensive look at the current state of laws and policies impacting LGBTQ people across the United States. The Equality Maps offer a state-by-state comparison of the policy landscape and gaps in protections for LGBTQ people across the country.

To keep you informed on this regularly changing landscape, here are the updates as of January 2022.

Important Updates in the States

Ohio saw new and improved regulatory protections for LGBTQ people in child welfare services, including:

• LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections for prospective families in adoption and in foster care through a new Resource Family Bill of Rights
• LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections for youth in the child welfare system through a new Foster Youth Bill of Rights

ICYMI-New Equality Map: LGBTQ Curricular Laws

In 2022, several state legislatures are considering harmful bills to ban LGBTQ-inclusive curricula. Our map on LGBTQ-related school curriculum laws shows three different policies related to school curricula, consolidated into one map.

• Four states prohibit teachers and school staff from discussing LGBTQ people and issues: Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.
• Five states require parental notification of LGBTQ-inclusive curricula and allow parents to opt their children out: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and Tennessee.
• Seven states explicitly require school curricula to include information about LGBTQ people and history: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, and Oregon.

MAP Updates

MAP recently published new reports tracking the impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ households and LGBTQI movement organizations, as well as our annual report on the financial health of LGBTQI movement organizations:

• MAP released a report, The Delta Variant & The Disproportionate Impacts of Covid-19 on LGBTQ Households in the U.S., based on previously-unreleased data from a nationally representative survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As in the 2020 survey, these new data show that LGBTQ people experienced higher rates of economic, health, and familial challenges than non-LGBTQ households as the Delta variant progressed.
• The Q3 report on COVID & the LGBTQI movement in 2021 documents the new policies and practices that organizations are implementing to better support and promote staff health. The report also shows the continuing impacts of the Delta variant on organizations' plans to reopen or remain remote, as well as their declining confidence in revenue for this year as the pandemic's economic and health impacts continue. Access this report, as well as the surveys from Q1 and Q2, on our COVID-19 topic page.
• The National LGBTQI Movement Report, published annually by MAP, provides a comprehensive look on the financial health of leading movement organizations. This year's report, covering fiscal year 2020, is the first in the series to cover a full year of COVID-impacted experiences. The report shows that, while organizations ended the fiscal year in a relatively strong financial position overall, this could just as easily change in the coming year as the pandemic unfolds. This is especially true given that this report's data cover fiscal year 2020-a time prior to the Delta and Omicron variants.
• We also introduced a new historical analysis of the demographics of movement staff, illustrating how the representation of staff of color, transgender staff, nonbinary staff, and bisexual staff (among other groups) have all noticeably increased over the past ten years.

To schedule an interview with a MAP researcher regarding the state of LGBTQ equality or for questions please contact Rebecca Farmer at rebecca@lgbtmap.org.

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About MAP: MAP's mission is to provide independent and rigorous research, insight and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all. MAP works to ensure that all people have a fair chance to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, take care of the ones they love, be safe in their communities, and participate in civic life. www.lgbtmap.org