A Decade of Progress on LGBT Rights

As hard as it is at times to accept still being a second or third class citizen in the majority of states in the USA, many of us - myself included - tend to forget that progress has been made over the last decade. In Virginia (and 12 other states), until the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, same sex physical relations could lead to felony charges and imprisonment. Even if the sexual relations occurred in the privacy of one's home between consenting adults. Obviously, the fact that progress has been made is no reason to give up on the struggle for full equality under all aspects of the civil laws - include the civil marriage laws. However, it can be useful when feels beaten down and pessimistic on where things are headed to stop and look at what improvements now exist as compared to a decade ago. The Movement Advancement Project has a new study that documents how life has in fact gotten better than it was even if the journey is far from over. The report can be found here. Here are some highlights:

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This brief report, prepared jointly by MAP and the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr., Fund, tracks 36 indicators of legal and social progress since the year 2000. The metrics are organized in eight topical areas affecting the lives of LGBT people:
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The report concisely shows how the past 10 years have been a period of dramatic gains in equality for LGBT people in America. Two-thirds of the 36 benchmarks show significant advances, including sharp increases in the number of LGBT Americans protected by nondiscrimination and family recognition legislation at the state level. Less than one quarter of the indicators are negative, and four metrics show little change (either positive or negative).
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•Protection from discrimination
•Recognition of LGBT families
•Protection from hate violence
•Safe and accepting school climate
•Relief from HIV and AIDS
•Service to country – military
•Service to country – public office
•Societal acceptance of LGBT people
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Some of the positive changes are as follows.
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States outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation: from 12 up to 22, - Up 83%
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Fortune 500 companies that protect workers based on sexual orientation: from 51% up to 88% - Up 73%
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States extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples: from 0 up to 5 - Up from 0
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States with broad relationship recognition laws short of marriage: from 1 up to 6 - Up 500%
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States with safe school laws citing sexual orientation and gender identity/expression for protection: from 1 up to 13 - Up 1200%
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Portion of the public who favor allowing openly-homosexual military members to serve openly: from 62% up to 75% - Up 21%

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Yes, there have been set backs too. Still, the net change is positive. Not surprisingly, Virginia is generally NOT included among states showing improvement. Obviously, if that continues, Virginia will become increasingly non-competitive in attracting progressive businesses and the "creative class."