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The Freedom Index
Your gay* and transgender friends don't have full legal freedoms
Learn what that means by clicking on the states and Freedom Index categories on the right.
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Overall Freedom Index Map
Your gay* and transgender friends have different freedoms depending on where they live in the country.
Introduction
What happens when a group of friends – gay* and straight – sit down to talk about what “freedom” means to them? This. Friendfactor’s take on the oh-so-important, yet hard-to-define concept of freedom.
We’ll be the first to admit attempting to define how “free” a person is isn’t an exact science. And, so you know, we’re not a bunch of sociologists, constitutional scholars, or policy junkies – we’re a diverse group of friends that have seen and experienced the inequalities your gay* and transgender friends face on a regular basis. And to tell you the truth, it really shocked some of us when we looked at the current way things work. That’s why we created the Freedom Index: we want you to see what we see. We think you’ll be as surprised as we were.
Read it. Think about it. Share it. That’s what friends do.
Background
Let’s get one thing out of the way before going any further: your gay* and transgender friends, no matter how you look at it, aren’t as free as their straight peers. This simple fact served as the motivation behind Friendfactor’s Freedom Index.
Creating the Freedom Index hasn’t been easy, especially with so many viewpoints about what makes each of us free. The fact that laws affecting your gay* and transgender vary widely at the local, state, and federal level further complicates the matter. So what does this all mean? Because laws affecting your gay* and transgender friends exist at so many levels, the gay* college kid in Texas and the lesbian mom in New York don’t have the same freedoms as one another – even though they should.
Faced with these challenges, Friendfactor sought to identify areas where we think your gay* and transgender friends aren’t as free as their straight counterparts. We included the freedoms with which most Americans – gay* and straight alike – are familiar. The Freedom Index is by no means an exhaustive list of issues.
Laws are changing rapidly and people are working hard to ensure this continues. Make sure and check back often at www.friendfactor.org to see how the Freedom Index is changing.
We know that some of these areas are more important to people than others – and that’s OK. Not all freedoms are the same to each person. Each of us chooses what is important to ourselves, and that’s not for Friendfactor to decide. We want everyone – gay* and straight – to read the Index, think about it, and then decide for themselves which freedoms are most important.
Freedom to Work Map
In 29+ states, your gay* and transgender friends can be fired from their job, just for being "out." No federal protections exist.
Why Freedom to Work matters
Your gay* friends can be fired from their job in twenty-nine states simply for being gay. (Human Rights Campaign) Your transgender friends can be fired from their job in thirty-eight states for being transgender. (Human Rights Campaign) Did you also know that unlike employment discrimination based on gender, race, or religion, the federal government provides no protections against workplace discrimination to your gay* and transgender friends? That means in most states, a manager can say “I don’t want gay* people working here” and they can fire your friend for being gay* or transgender.
What Freedom to Work means
Thirty-nine percent of gay* employees report some form of discrimination or harm in the workplace because of their sexual orientation. (Lambda Legal) Despite this, federal law still provides no protection against workplace discrimination. Many corporations have non-discrimination policies that include your gay* and transgender friends, but these fall short of ensuring that they are protected under federal law against workplace discrimination. Additionally, federal laws prohibiting discrimination in public or governmental employment have never been amended to include protections for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
What does full legal Freedom to Work look like
Every American should know that when they apply for a job, they won’t be discriminated against because of who they are. The federal government should provide legal recourse when your gay* and transgender friends are subjected to discriminatory employment practices. Your gay* and transgender friends will have the same Freedom to Work without fear of discrimination when:
Congress passes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (“ENDA”) to outlaw employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in private sector employment.
The federal government includes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal laws outlawing discrimination in public employment.
All states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Ask your gay* friends
Having to obscure who you are in the workplace isn’t easy if you want to honestly answer questions like “Who did you see that movie with this weekend?” or “Who’s that a picture of on your desk?” Ask your gay* friends if they’ve ever worried if being “out” in the workplace might cost them their job or how they’re treated at work. Ask if they’ve ever neglected to put a leadership activity on their resume in fear that it might prevent them from getting an interview. Ask your trans friends what the workplace challenges when making a gender transition? You might be surprised to hear what they have to say.
Freedom to Serve Map
Your gay* friends are allowed to serve in the military -- but they can be discharged if anyone finds out that they're gay*.
Why Freedom to Serve matters
Until December 2010 when Congress repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) – a federal policy under which gay* Americans aren’t allowed to serve openly in the armed forces – your gay* friends faced the difficult decision of choosing between serving openly and risking discharge or remaining closeted and continuing their service.
Imagine joining the military knowing that if you listed your life partner as “next of kin” (the person the military notifies if anything happens you to), that you would be investigated and discharged regardless of your performance as a service member.
What Freedom to Serve means
The U.S. military is the nation’s largest employer. Current estimates are that over 13,000 gay* service men and women were discharged under DADT. (Williams Institute) In many cases, a discharge under DADT prevented gay* service members from obtaining veterans’ benefits and also caused additional financial hardships.
This means the military actively excluded qualified individuals from protecting the country. Think of all the specialized skill sets, including Arabic translators, engineers and strategists (among other things), the military missed out on under DADT. There is such a need for these individuals that a few years ago the military started allowing felons into the services.
What does full legal Freedom to Serve look like
The U.S. military should not force those willing to serve to do so in silence. Your gay* friends will have the same Freedom to Serve as other Americans when:
DADT is fully repealed and gay* Americans are able to serve openly.
The military creates a non-discrimination policy inclusive of sexual orientations.
Ask your gay* friends
Many gay* Americans who want to serve our country do so because they are proud of nation and the values it stands for. Ask your friends what it means to them to know that in order to fight for our country’s freedom, that they did have to lie about who they are. Ask them in what kind of situations they think that they might have to lie—or be deceptive—about being gay*. Chances are that they’re “asked” implicitly in a lot more situations than you might think.
Freedom to Marry Map
Even though there are only a few states where your gay* friends can get legally married, all gay* couples are not granted 1,100+ federal rights that straight couples receive.
Why Freedom to Marry matters
Imagine if after deciding to spend your life with someone, the law didn’t recognize you a legal couple. You couldn’t depend on your partner’s Social Security payments when you get old, you couldn’t file joint tax returns, you couldn’t sponsor your partner for citizenship if they were a non-U.S. citizen, and you weren’t guaranteed access to your spouse’s healthcare.
Your gay* friends don’t have these rights, no matter what state they live in. Most people know that marriage is about love and commitment, but they don’t know that not having the Freedom to Marry means that you don’t have access to over 1,100+ federal legal rights, privileges, and obligations. (Human Rights Campaign) Even in the five states where your gay* friends can get married, they still have no access to federal recognition of their relationship.
What Freedom to Marry means
The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) permits states to ignore your gay* friends’ legal marriages, and defines marriage, for the federal government’s purposes, as a union between one man and one woman. Moreover, a number of states have ratified similar acts to further deny your friends their right to marry. And, civil unions aren’t enough – they aren’t the same as marriage because the each state government defines them differently.
What does full legal Freedom to Marry look like
Since 1888 the Supreme Court has said 14 times that the Freedom to Marry is a fundamental right. Until your gay* friends have the ability to marry in every state, they can’t be truly free and equal citizens. Your gay* friends will have the Freedom to Marry when:
DOMA is repealed and the federal government fully recognizes same-sex marriages.
States permit same-sex marriage and repeal discriminatory laws that recognize only heterosexual marriage.
Ask your gay* friends
Some gay* people want to get married and some people gay* don’t. Ask you gay* friends if they’ve ever wanted the option to get legally married and if that’s changed as public opinion and acceptance of marriage for gay* couples has risen over time. If your gay* friend is married, ask about ways the law prevents their marriage from being a “full” marriage. If they’re still single, ask if they’ve heard of stories of married gay* couples who face hardship because they don’t enjoy the full legal freedoms of relationship recognition. Ask them how they felt attending a wedding of a friend knowing that they couldn’t legally have the same full rights. Ask what you can do to support their Freedom to Marry. You might be surprised to hear what they say.
Freedom to Parent Map
Depending on the state, your gay* friends aren't always legally recognized as parents of their own children.
Why Freedom to Parent matters
Many of your gay* friends want to either have or adopt children. In fact, the 2000 census estimated that there were at least one million children in America being raised by same-sex couples. (Human Rights Campaign) That said, laws across the country make it incredibly difficult in some states for your gay* friends to become parents, even though studies have shown that gay* parents make just as good of parents as anyone else.
Whether a gay* couple chooses one person to give birth to the child, or chooses adoption or surrogacy, your gay* friends must fight hard to both be recognized as legal parents. These laws vary by state, so your gay* friends across the country all have different parenting rights.
What Freedom to Parent means
Imagine if some state laws said that only one person in a couple could be named a legal parent. That’s the reality that many of your gay* friends face if they want to have kids.
For your gay* friends, a joint adoption involves a gay* couple adopting from the child’s birth parents or a child that is in the custody of the state; a person petitioning to adopt the child of his or her partner is commonly referred to as a second-parent adoption. Laws associated with parenting vary widely state-to-state (and, in fact, judge-by-judge). Many states have not allowed for second-parent adoption with gay* couples. Of those states that have permitted second-parent adoptions, many don’t have statutes explicitly recognizing that your gay* friends have the Freedom to Parent.
What does full legal Freedom to Parent look like
If your gay* friends want to have children, they should be able to do so legally and with the state’s full consent. Your gay* friends will have the same Freedom to Parent when:
Each state sets-up an adoption and foster care system under which gay* individuals and couples are subjected to the same standards and criteria as straight Americans.
Each state recognizes, through statute, that gay* couples are able to jointly adopt and to petition for second-parent adoptions.
Ask your gay* friends
Just like straight couples, many gay* couples want to have a family with children. Some of your gay* friends may have always wanted to be parents but feared they never would be able to. Ask your gay* friends if they think they’d ever want kids. Ask them if they’ve heard any “horror stories” of gay* parents, who because of the lack of legal recognition of their family, ran into problems with adoption agencies, hospitals, day care centers, schools, etc. You might be surprised to hear what they have to say.
Freedom from Violence Map
Despite a federal hate crimes law, few states protect your gay* and transgender friends from bullying and violence, especially in schools.
Why Freedom from Violence matters
Your gay* and transgender friends face the risk of being targeted with violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Each year, the FBI reports over one thousand hate crimes perpetrated on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. (Matthew Shepard Foundation) Additionally, gay* and transgender youth also face a different form of violence when they are sent to school where they repeatedly are subjected to bullying and intimidation without repercussions.
What Freedom from Violence means
In 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act added sexual orientation and gender identity to the pre-existing federal hate crimes statutes. Under the new federal hate crime law, perpetrators of crimes motivated on the grounds of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity face federal prosecution and much stiffer penalties. While this is a huge gain in gay* and transgender freedom, many states have failed to pass legislation protecting your gay* and transgender friends from hate-motivated violence, and few states have passed anti-bullying statutes to protect gay* and transgender students against the dangers they may face at school.
What does full legal Freedom from Violence look like
Government at all levels should protect your gay* and transgender friends who are victims of violence based on their sexual orientation or gender identify. Your gay* and transgender friends will have the same Freedom from Violence when:
All states have laws addressing hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Laws exist at either the state or local level to protect gay* and transgender students from bullying or harassment.
Ask your gay* friends
Imagine what it would be like to fear going to school everyday because the kids in your class harassed you for being gay*. Chances are, your gay* and transgender friends felt this way at some point, whether in school or elsewhere. Ask your friends how teasing and bullying has impacted their life. Did your friends ever not participate in an activity because they thought everyone would make fun of them?
Freedom of Gender Map
Your transgender friends' gender identity isn't always recognized in some states, leading to a number of legal and social hardships.
Why Freedom of Gender matters
The transgender community is often overlooked – and your transgender and queer friends face many unique issues related to gender.
To some of your friends, gender is a fluid concept. The term transgender encompasses many things, and include people who do not identify with, or present themselves as, the sex and assumed gender they were assigned at birth. Many Americans classify themselves as transgender. The problem is, laws currently don’t protect and account for your transgender and queer friends.
What Freedom of Gender means
Your trans and queer friends may wish to change their birth certificates, driver licenses, and other identifying documentation to reflect their believed or presented sex. While all but three states currently allow transgender people to obtain these changes once they have undergone gender reassignment surgery and have obtained a court order mandating the change, the processes involved in changing one’s sex vary greatly from state to state. These differences in state law mean that if your transgender or queer friend lives in one state and changes the gender on their documentation, then that documentation may not be recognized if that friend wants to establish residency in another state. You should also know that not every transgender person wants or can afford gender reassignment surgery, so it’s important that laws work to assist all transgender or queer people in having the government recognize their preferred gender.
What does full legal Freedom of Gender look like
Your transgender and queer friends should be able to express their gender, and the government should not prevent them from having documentation that reflects this gender. Furthermore, this documentation should be recognized in all states. Your transgender and queer friends will have the same Freedom of Gender when:
All states have standards for changing gender on documentation and recognize documentation granting gender changes issued in other states.
Ask your gay* friends
You may not know how your transgender and queer friends prefer to be introduced. It’s polite to ask what pronoun you should use when talking to or about your friends. Ask how important pronouns are to your transgender and queer friends. Ask which you should use.
Freedom to Access Map
No federal laws protect your gay* and transgender friends from discrimination in accessing public accomodations like hotels and restaurants.
Why Freedom to Access matters
For awhile now, the federal government has made sure that most Americans are protected against discrimination in public places. While federal laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender and other criteria, they never mention anything about sexual orientation and gender identity. For this reason, no federal laws are violated if, for example, your gay* and transgender friends are discriminated against in a hotel or restaurant.
What Freedom to Access means
The 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex in public accommodations (like hotels and restaurants), public facilities (like parks) and in any program or organization that receives federal funding. Additionally, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 prohibits creditors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status. Neither of these important federal laws prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
What does full legal Freedom to Access look like
When the federal government seeks to protect citizens from discrimination, the legislation should also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Your gay* and transgender friends will have the same Freedom to Live when:
The federal government includes sexual orientation and gender identity in federal laws prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, public facilities, federally funded programs or activities and access to credit.
Ask your gay* friends
Public perception can greatly affect the way a person acts. Ask your gay* and transgender friends if they ever worried that being open about their sexual orientation or gender identity may get them kicked out of a restaurant? Hotel? Bathroom? Ask your gay* and transgender friends if they prefer gay* friendly places or neighborhoods because they can act themselves there.
Freedom in Housing Map
In 30+ states, it's legal for a landlord to deny housing or evict your gay* and transgender friends because of who they are. No federal laws protect your friends from discrimination in housing.
Why Freedom in Housing matters
Living where you want to live is important. Many Americans take for granted the fact that they can live anywhere they desire and the government will protect them from unfair and discriminatory housing practices. Your gay* and transgender friends don’t take this for granted . . . because it doesn’t apply to them.
What Freedom in Housing means
Non-discrimination housing laws ignore your gay* and transgender friends for the most part, which means they can still be denied housing or evicted on arbitrary and capricious grounds. Did you know that:
Gay* Americans can be denied housing or evicted from their homes in 31 states; transgender Americans can be evicted from their homes in 37 states? (Human Rights Campaign)
Thirty-four percent of gays* say that they have either personally experienced or know someone who has experienced housing discrimination when attempting to rent an apartment or buy a home? (Kaiser Family Foundation)
What does full legal Freedom in Housing look like
Everyone should be able to live where they want without fear of discrimination. Your gay* and transgender friends will have the same Freedom in Housing when:
All state and local governments amend existing housing laws to protect gay* Americans from discrimination.
The federal government amends The Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the sale or rental of housing, real-estate transactions and brokerage services.
Ask your gay* friends
Think about not being able to live where you want. How does that make you feel? Ask your gay* and transgender friends if they’ve ever concealed their sexuality or gender identity because they didn’t want it to affect their living situation. Talk to your gay* and transgender friends about what it’s like to have a roommate who is not comfortable with them.
