LGBT Equality Index in the United States

The most LGBT-Friendly US States.

The Equality Index measures the current status of LGBT rights, laws, and freedoms as well as public attitudes towards LGBT people.
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Equality Index ?
0 (Less Equal)
100 (More Equal)

United States Equality Index

Which states are the most LGBT-friendly?

The Legal Index scores the legal rights and freedoms LGBTQ+ people have while the Public Opinion Index scores how the general public feels in each region.

State and TerritoryEquality IndexLegal IndexPublic Opinion Index
1. Vermont86 / 10098 / 10074 / 100
2. Massachusetts869874
3. Connecticut859871
4. New Hampshire859871
5. Rhode Island849870
6. Washington, D.C.839868
7. New York829867
8. California829866
9. New Jersey829866
10. Washington829866
11. Maine829865
12. Maryland819864
13. Colorado819864
14. Hawaii819863
15. Oregon809863
16. Minnesota809862
17. Illinois809862
18. New Mexico799860
19. Nevada799860
20. Delaware789166
21. Michigan789561
22. Puerto Rico789165
23. Utah779559
24. Pennsylvania769061
25. Virginia759059
26. Wisconsin738264
27. Arizona718062
28. Ohio718359
29. Kansas718457
30. Iowa708259
31. Idaho708258
32. Montana697960
33. Alaska687660
34. Nebraska677659
35. North Dakota677757
36. South Dakota667657
37. Florida657061
38. Indiana657654
39. Missouri647356
40. West Virginia647950
41. North Carolina647355
42. Arkansas638047
43. Wyoming637354
44. Kentucky637650
45. Georgia627055
46. South Carolina627351
47. Louisiana596653
48. Tennessee587047
49. Mississippi586946
50. Alabama587046
51. Texas576451
52. Oklahoma566052

Equality Index Methodology

Equaldex's Equality Index is a rating from 0 to 100 (with 100 being the most equal) to help visualize the legal rights and public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex...) people in each region. The Equality Index is an average of two indexes: the legal index and the public opinion Index.

Legal Index

The LGBT legal index measures the current legal status of 13 different issues ranging from the legal status of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, transgender rights, LGBT discrimination protections, LGBT censorship laws, and more. Each topic is weighted differently (for example, if same-sex marriage is illegal in a region, it would have a much bigger impact on the score than not allowing LGBT people to serve in the military). Each topic is assigned a "total possible score" and a "score" is assigned based the status of the law using a rating scale that ranges from 0% to 100% (for example, if homosexuality is legal, it would would receive a score of 100, but if it's illegal, it would receve a score of 0.) If the status of an issue is unknown, not applicable, or no data has not been added to Equaldex, the issue's score is completely discarded and not included in the ranking.

Legal Index = (Total Possible Score for each issue × Factor of Status of Issue) / Sum of all Total Possible Scores

IssueTotal Possible ScoreStatusFactor
Homosexual activity100Legal×1.00
Illegal (other penalty)×0.30
Male illegal, female legal×0.50
Male illegal, female uncertain×0.40
Illegal (death penalty as punishment)×0.00
Illegal (up to life in prison as punishment)×0.10
Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)×0.20
Same-sex marriage60Legal×1.00
Other type of partnership×0.50
Foreign same-sex marriages recognized only×0.40
Unrecognized, same-sex marriage and civil unions banned×0.30
Unrecognized, only same-sex marriage official×0.20
Unrecognized×0.10
Unregistered cohabitation×0.10
Not legal×0.00
Civil unions×0.70
Censorship of LGBT Issues45Imprisonment as punishment×0.00
Fine as punishment×0.30
Other punishment×0.15
No censorship×1.00
State-enforced×0.40
Right to change legal gender40Legal, surgery not required×1.00
Illegal×0.00
Legal, but requires surgery×0.70
Legal recognition of non-binary gender30Recognized×1.00
Not legally recognized×0.00
Intersex only×0.70
LGBT discrimination25Illegal×1.00
No protections×0.00
Illegal in some contexts×0.50
LGBT employment discrimination20Sexual orientation and gender identity×1.00
No protections×0.00
Sexual orientation only×0.50
LGBT housing discrimination20Sexual orientation and gender identity×1.00
Sexual orientation only×0.50
No protections×0.00
Same-sex adoption15Legal×1.00
Married couples only×0.50
Single only×0.40
Step-child adoption only×0.20
Illegal×0.00
Serving openly in military15Legal×1.00
Don't Ask, Don't Tell×0.50
Illegal×0.00
Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned×0.70
Blood donations by MSMs10Legal×1.00
Banned (indefinite deferral)×0.00
Banned (5-year deferral)×0.10
Banned (1-year deferral)×0.15
Banned (6-month deferral)×0.20
Banned (3-month deferral)×0.30
Conversion therapy15Banned×1.00
Not banned×0.00
Equal age of consent10Equal×1.00
Unequal×0.00

Public Opinion Index

The LGBT public opinion index measures the public attitudes towards LGBT people using surveys and polls from reputable organizations. This index is scored based on averaging the results of all surveys in a given region. Generally, the value averaged is usually the most “equal” response in the poll. For example, if a poll asked “Do you support same-sex marriage?” and 56% of people said “yes”, the value “56” would be used. In some cases, a survey may be weighted less if the survey is very specific or includes a specific group of people (such as Christians) and might not be a full representation of the overall attitudes of the region.

Note that public opinion data is not available in every region. In these cases, the Equality Index will only be a representation of the legal rights of LGBT people in the region. In some regions with no recent public opinion data, older data is used to score the region.

Notes

  • Equaldex's Equality Index is constantly being improved and tracking it over time may not represent changes in equality over time. As more data is contributed to Equaldex, the index becomes more accurate. For example, adding survey results to a region will likely change the region's Equality Index — even more so if there is limited data on the region. In this case, the change in score could represent a change in attitudes in the region, but it may also just be an increase in the index's accuracy.
  • Global opinion surveys rarely include transgender topics. Especially in more conservative regions, surveys are usually limited to homosexuality or same-sex marriage. Equaldex continues to seek more international transgender public opinion data to make the Equality Index more inclusive.