LGBTQ Rights
The ACLU works to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
![LGBTQ issue image](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/02/lgbtq-issue-image.jpg)
What you need to know
If you've been discriminated against based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status, the ACLU wants to hear about it.
The Latest
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ACLU Announces Roadmap for Protecting and Expanding LGBTQ Freedom Under a Harris Administration
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Why a Harris Presidency Promises Hope for LGBTQ Rights
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Ohio Judge Rules Against Families and Doctors, Allowing Ban on Gender-Affirming Care to Take Immediate Effect
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High School Students Explain Why We Can’t Let Classroom Censorship Win
Explore More
What We're Focused On
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Criminal Justice Reform for LGBTQ People
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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LGBTQ Parenting
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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LGBTQ Relationships
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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LGBTQ Youth
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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Transgender Rights
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
What's at Stake
The ACLU has a long history of defending the LGBTQ community. We brought our first LGBTQ rights case in 1936. Founded in 1986, the Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović LGBTQ & HIV Project brings more LGBTQ rights cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national organization does and has been counsel in seven of the nine LGBTQ rights cases that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided. With our reach into the courts and legislatures of every state, there is no other organization that can match our record of making progress both in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion.
The ACLU’s current priorities are to end discrimination, harassment and violence toward transgender people, to close gaps in our federal and state civil rights laws, to prevent protections against discrimination from being undermined by a license to discriminate, and to protect LGBTQ people in and from the criminal legal system.
Need help?
fill out our confidential online form
For non-LGBTQ issues, please contact your local ACLU affiliate.
The ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project seeks to create a just society for all LGBTQ people regardless of race or income. Through litigation, lobbying, public education, and organizing, we work to build a country where our communities can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
The ACLU has a long history of defending the LGBTQ community. We brought our first LGBTQ rights case in 1936. Founded in 1986, the Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović LGBTQ & HIV Project brings more LGBTQ rights cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national organization does and has been counsel in seven of the nine LGBTQ rights cases that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided. With our reach into the courts and legislatures of every state, there is no other organization that can match our record of making progress both in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion.
The ACLU’s current priorities are to end discrimination, harassment and violence toward transgender people, to close gaps in our federal and state civil rights laws, to prevent protections against discrimination from being undermined by a license to discriminate, and to protect LGBTQ people in and from the criminal legal system.
Need help?
fill out our confidential online form
For non-LGBTQ issues, please contact your local ACLU affiliate.
The ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project seeks to create a just society for all LGBTQ people regardless of race or income. Through litigation, lobbying, public education, and organizing, we work to build a country where our communities can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
Today, years of hard-fought civil liberty protections are under threat.
To influence lawmakers, we need everyone to get involved. Here is 1 action you can take today: