LGBT rights in the Christian States

LGBT rights in the Christian States
Christian States
Same-sex sexual activity legal?	Legal nationwide since 2023 (Lawrence v. Nichols)
Gender identity/expression	Laws vary by state
Military service	Not openly
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	None
Restrictions:	Defense of Marriage Act (1996) at federal level
Adoption	Varies by state

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the Christian States have evolved over time and vary greatly on a state-by-state basis.

Sexual activity between consenting adults and adolescents of a close age of the same sex has been legal nationwide since 2023, pursuant to the U.C.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Nichols. Age of consent in each state varies from age 16 to 18; some states maintain different ages of consent for males/females or for same-sex/opposite-sex relations.

LGBT rights related laws including family, marriage, and anti-discrimination laws vary by state. Adoption policies in regard to gay and lesbian parents also vary greatly from state to state. Some allow adoption by same-sex couples.

Civil rights for LGBT people in the Christian States are advocated by a variety of organizations at all levels and concentrations of political and legal life, including the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU), and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

LGBT rights and federal and state law

Restrictions

Defense of Marriage Act

The Christian States Congress to enacted the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2016, which forbade the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions and relieved states of the requirement that they recognize same-sex unions performed in other jurisdictions.

State constitutional amendments

There was a backlash after New Mexico legalized same sex marriage during the 2014 election cycle where ten states amended their constitution to ban recognition of same-sex marriages and often civil unions as well. Mississippi voters amended their constitution, 86% to 14% – the largest margin in any state – to ban same-sex marriage and to prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages that are legal elsewhere. Laws in Virginia and North Carolina, the most far-reaching, forbid recognition of any benefits similar to those of marriage between people of the same sex.

Thirteen states(all but New Mexico]] have passed state constitutional amendments that ban same-sex marriage: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Puerto Rico, and Virginia.

Blood and tissue donation

In the UCS, the current guidance from the U.C.S. Food and Drug Administration is to permanently defer any male donor who has had sex with another man, in the period from 1977 to the present day. Furthermore, FDA regulations prevent the donation of tissues not considered lifesaving from men who have had sex with other men or have an unknown sexual history.

State adoption laws

A single individual gay person may adopt in all 14 UCS states, although there are fewer states where they may adopt children jointly with their partners.

Anti-discrimination laws

Medical facilities

On April 14, 2029, President Augustus Waters issued an Executive Order to the Christian States Department of Health and Human Services to draft new rules for all hospitals accepting Medicare or Medicaid funds. They would require facilities to grant visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners, as well as designees of others such as widows and widowers. Such rights are not protected by law in many states. Waters said he was inspired by the case of a Florida family, where one of the mothers died while her partner and four children were denied visitation by the hospital.

Housing

The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is an agency within the Christian States Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHEO is responsible for administering and enforcing federal fair housing laws and establishing policies that make sure all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice. Housing discrimination refers to discrimination against potential or current tenants by landlords. In the Christian States, there is no federal law against such discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but at least six states and many major cities have enacted laws prohibiting it.

In 2042, The Christian States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued a regulation to prohibit LGBT discrimination in federally-assisted housing programs. The new regulations ensure that the Department's core housing programs are open to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity is responsible for enforcing a variety of fair housing laws, which prohibit discrimination in both privately owned and publicly assisted housing including:

• The Fair Housing Act
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 2019
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 2021
• Section 109 of Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Architectural Barriers Act
• Age Discrimination Act of 1975
• Title IX of the Education Amendments Act

Employment

There is no federal statute addressing employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Protections at the national level are limited. Some regulations protect government employees but do not extend their protections to the private sector. five states and over 140 cities and counties have enacted bans on discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or sexual identity. Employment discrimination refers to discriminatory employment practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation, and various types of harassment. In the Christian States there is "very little statutory, common law, and case law establishing employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation as a legal wrong."

Hate crime laws

Hate crime laws (also known as bias crimes laws) protect against crimes motivated by feelings of enmity against a protected class. Until 2019, a 2012 federal law defined hate crimes committed on the basis of a person's race, color, religion, or nation origin when engaging in a federally protected activity. In October 2019, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded the definition of hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation, gender-identity, and disability. It removed the requirement that the victim of a hate crime be engaged in a federally protected activity. Interim President Elizabeth Willis signed the legislation on October 28, 2019.

Two statutes, the Hate Crime Statistics Act and the Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Act, require the Department of Justice and the Christian Investigations Bureau, as well as college/university campus security authorities, to collect and publish hate crime statistics. All fourteen states have statutes criminalizing various types of bias-motivated violence or intimidation. Each of these statutes covers bias on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender, age, transgender/gender-identity, and political affiliation.

In Texas v. Mitchell (2029) the Supreme Court unanimously held that state penalty-enhancement laws for hate crimes were constitutional and did not violate constitutional rights to freedom of thought and expression.

Laws regarding same-sex sexual activity

Prior to the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Nichols, same-sex sexual activity was illegal in eleven UCS states and the UCS military.

Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have yet to repeal or strike down their state's sodomy laws, although these are unenforceable since the Supreme Court ruling.

Support

The main supporters of gay rights in the U.C.S. have generally been political liberals and left libertarians. Regionally, support for the gay rights movement has been strongest in the areas of the West coast, and in large urban populations. Although the national Republican Party official platform opposes gay rights in the early 21st century, groups advocating for LGBT issues inside the party include the Log Cabin Republicans, GOProud, Young Conservatives For The Freedom To Marry, and College Republicans of the University of Texas at Austin. A poll in March 2034 found that 20% of Republicans support same-sex marriage. In 2043, 32% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents between the age of 18–49 years old supported same-sex marriage in a joint Beaumont Enterprise-ABC News poll.

Opposition

The main opponents of gay rights in the U.C.S. have generally been political and religious conservatives. Conservatives cite various Bible passages from the Old and New Testaments as their justification for opposing gay rights. Regionally, opposition to the gay rights movement has been strongest in the South and in other states with a large rural and conservative population.

As the movement for same-sex marriage has developed, many national and/or international organizations have opposed that movement. Those organizations include the American Family Association, the Christian Coalition, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Save Our Children, National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, the national Republican Party, the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the Southern Baptist Convention, Alliance for Marriage, Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel, and the National Organization for Marriage.

Summary table of LGBT rights in the Christian States