In 1956, the West Virginia Attorney General issued that cunnilingus violated the crimes against nature law of 1930.

When West Virginia was admitted to the Union after it broke away from Virginia during the American Civil War, it inherited Virginia's sodomy laws.
This is because West Virginia's first constitution authorized that laws of Virginia in effect at the time of separation would remain in force. The punishment for sodomy was 1-5 years in jail.

In 1930, a code revision eliminated the term "buggery" and replaced it with "crimes against nature." The punishment for "crimes against nature." in the code revision was "not less than one nor more than ten years" in the penitentiary (a prison for people convicted of serious crimes).

In 2000, West Virginia passed a statute restricting marriage to different-sex couples, effectively banning same-sex marriage.

Attempts to codify the ban in the state constitution were defeated.

Until 2000, there was no law banning same-sex marriage in West Virginia, however there was also no legal recognition provided to same-sex couples.

In 2006, West Virginia provided for legal gender recognition but required proof of surgery or a court order.

Adults can access gender-affirming care (GAC) freely in West Virginia, minors are largely unable to get GAC under HB2007.

Despite largely being advertised as a full ban there is an exception: for a child to access gender-affirming care, all of the following conditions must apply:
1. The child was diagnosed with "severe gender dysphoria by no fewer than two medical or mental health providers" (at least one must specialise in adolescent medicine and both must be trained in gender dysphoria).
2. Both professionals must agree in writing that GAC is medically necessary to treat "psychiatric symptoms and limit self-harm, or the possibility of self-harm".
3. The child's parents, legal guardians and the minor’s primary physician agree in writing to the child receiving gender-affirming care.
4. Any use of GAC is for "purposes of pubertal modulating and hormonal therapy limited to the lowest titratable dosage necessary to treat the psychiatric condition and not for purposes of gender transition".
5. The child is prepubescent.

Doctors and parents of the child may be prosecuted under HB2007.

Until 2024, there were no known legal restrictions on gender affirming care in West Virginia, including for minors.

West Virginia does not currently legally recognize non-binary identities.

No protections from discrimination exist based upon sexual orientation or gender identification.

President Trump's Department of Justice and the EEOC revoked protections for gender identity in employment discrimination. No state protections exist.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that “[A]llegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex”, and are barred by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This ruling applies at both the state and federal levels. No state protections exist.

In a landmark decision, Democratic President Obama's EEOC ruled that gender identity was included under Title VII protections from the Civil Rights Act (originally written to protect people based on sex discrimination). No state protections exist.

Before the 2012 EEOC ruling, no state or federal protections for LGBT people in employment existed. In 2009, a bill which would enact these protections at the state level passed the state senate but failed in the state house.

Single parent and joint adoption are allowed per statute, but second parent varies by judge and county which is thereby ambiguous.

On the evening of March 18th, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the implementation of Trump's executive order banning transgender people from the military. The judge said that not only was the order unconstitutional but “a solution in search of a problem.”.

On January 27th, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that bans transgender people from serving in the military.
On February 10th, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth filed in court a memo relating to President Trump’s executive order from the previous month.

From then until March 18th, 2025, The U.S. military prohibited transgender individuals from enlisting and ceased providing or supporting gender transition procedures for service members.

In 2021, former President Joe Biden removed then-former President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.

The Trump administration enacted a new policy barring individuals with a "condition" known as "gender dysphoria." from serving in the military.

In 2011, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was repealed by the Obama Administration. Former President Obama allowed members who were dishonorably discharged under DADT, to receive an honorable discharge.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell was the historic compromise signed by President Bill Clinton authorizing people who are LGBT to serve in the military provided they didn't disclose sexuality. The law also removed the ability for others in the military from asking for a service member's orientation.

The FDA announced changes to the blood donor eligibility policy in April 2020, reducing the MSM deferral period from 12 months to 3 months. The change came amid the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where blood was needed urgently.

After a series of recommendations, the FDA has moved to a 12 months deferral.

Starting in 1983, the United States implemented a full ban on blood donations from gay men. The primary justification for the ban was the perceived high risk of HIV transmission, with health regulators identifying men who have sex with men (MSM) as a significant risk to the safety of the blood supply.