Discrimination and Barriers to Well-Being: The State of the LGBTQI+ Community in 2022
By Caroline Medina & Lindsay Mahowald
LGBTQI+ people and other “sexual and gender diverse”1 people experience structural and interpersonal discrimination that adversely affects their well-being and drives disparate outcomes across crucial areas of life.2 The current patchwork of nondiscrimination laws in states across the country and existing gaps in federal civil rights laws leave millions of LGBTQI+ people without protection from discrimination.3 The Biden-Harris administration, since the beginning of its tenure, has taken numerous actions across executive agencies to bolster nondiscrimination protections in federal regulations.4 Simultaneously, state attacks explicitly targeting the rights of LGBTQI+ people have surged in recent years. In 2022 alone, state lawmakers introduced more than 300 bills targeting the rights of LGBTQI+ people—especially LGBTQI+ youth and transgender people.5 These discriminatory policies are inextricably linked to and contribute to a rise in extremist anti-LGBTQI+ and, specifically, anti-transgender rhetoric, disinformation, and violence.6
Source American Progress
