In this rapidly changing landscape, MAP’s LGBTQ Equality Maps provide a detailed snapshot of the current state of LGBTQ laws and policies in the United States. See below for a listing of state level policy changes, plus MAP’s bill tracking and policy research updates, as of June 20, 2025.

▸▸ State Policy Updates Parental opt-out/opt-in for LGBTQ-related curriculumSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here. May 1: Montana enacted a new law requiring parents to opt children in to LGBTQ-inclusive content in schools. It expands the previous law allowing parents to opt children out. It applies to all grades K-12 and will not go into effect until July 1.

Bans on transgender people’s use of bathrooms and facilitiesSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here. There are now 19 states with a law or policy banning transgender people from using bathrooms according to their gender identity in various government-owned settings. Now, more than 1 in 4 (26%) transgender people nationwide live under some form of these policies. May 1: North Dakota expanded its existing K-12 bathroom ban by adding new penalties and enforcements. Originally, the state’s 2023 ban had no penalties defined, but this 2025 law allows for complaints to be submitted against schools, for the state attorney general to take action via investigations or enforcement against schools, and for up to a $2,500 penalty for each violation of the ban. May 12: Arizona’s governor vetoed a K-12 bathroom ban. May 13: Oklahoma expanded its existing K-12 bathroom ban to also apply to state-owned prisons and correctional facilities. May 16: In Montana, a court granted a preliminary injunction, blocking enforcement of the state’s bathroom ban for the remainder of the ongoing lawsuit. This built on an earlier, temporary block of the bathroom ban. June 3: South Carolina renewed its existing K-12 bathroom ban. Because the ban was originally passed as part of the state’s annual budget, it must be renewed annually to remain in effect.

“Shield” or “refuge” laws protecting transgender health careSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here.May 12: Washington state expanded its existing shield law, adding new privacy protections. Read more details here.May 13: Vermont expanded its existing shield law in multiple ways. Read more details here.May 16 and May 23: Colorado enacted two new bills, expanding existing protections in multiple ways, including new privacy protections related to testosterone prescriptions.

Repealing HIV criminalization lawsSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here.May 20: Maryland fully repealed its HIV criminalization law, becoming the second state this year to do so after North Dakota in March.

Confirmatory adoptionSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here.May 23: Vermont became the 10th state with a confirmatory adoption process, a policy that helps protect the legal rights of many kinds of families, including LGBTQ families. Read more details here.June 3: Nevada became the 11th state to offer confirmatory adoption.

Bans on medical care for transgender youthSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here, including a chronology and details on effective dates, exceptions, lawsuits, and more. There are now 27 states with a ban or restriction on medically necessary, prescribed health care for transgender youth. Now 2 in 5 (40%) transgender youth live in states with these bans. However, lawsuits have been filed against the bans in at least 18 of these states.   May 13: In Montana, a court ruled that the state’s ban on medically necessary care was unconstitutional under state law — meaning the ruling is not affected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Skrmetti — striking down the state’s ban. The state may yet appeal.May 28: A new lawsuit was filed against the ban in Kansas. Now there are at least 18 active lawsuits against state bans on medically necessary care for transgender youth. May 30: Following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, Missouri banned abortion statewide. In November 2024, Missouri voters overturned that ban at the ballot box, making abortion legal again in the state.    But this May, the Missouri legislature disregarded the will of voters and initiated a ballot measure to ban abortion once again — and this time, to ban medically necessary health care for transgender youth at the same time. Even though Missouri already bans this health care for minors, this new ballot initiative would enshrine the ban into the state’s constitution (if successful).    The measure, currently known as HJR 73, is scheduled to appear on the November 2026 midterm ballot, and it will be the first statewide ballot initiative explicitly targeting transgender health care, as well as the first statewide ballot initiative that explicitly combines both abortion rights and transgender medical care.

SCOTUS Update: U.S. v. SkrmettiLast week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, upholding Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for transgender youth. This is a devastating ruling for transgender youth, their families, and their doctors across the country. The Court has failed to protect families’ freedoms and offered a green light for politicians’ continued efforts to control access to essential medical care.  It’s important, however, to remember that even after today’s decision, transgender young people will still be able to receive care in the states that have not banned it. We must protect access to this care in the states where it is available, resist efforts to restrict funding or insurance coverage, work to overturn bans, and ensure that no such bans are passed in other states. Families and doctors should be making these health care decisions — not politicians.

Medicaid coverage of transgender-related health careSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here.June 11: Iowa banned its Medicaid program from covering medically necessary healthcare for transgender people, regardless of age. Previously, the state was under court order to provide such coverage, as excluding the coverage was against the state’s transgender-inclusive civil rights law. However, this past February, the state removed gender identity nondiscrimination protections from its civil rights law, and now the state has also banned coverage of Medicaid benefits.

Conversion “therapy” lawsSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here.June 3: As part of South Carolina’s state budget, the state enacted a first of its kind law withholding state funds from any municipality that has a local-level law protecting minors against the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion “therapy.” The state’s capital, Columbia, is the only city in the state with these protections, so this law effectively directly targets Columbia and threatens to withhold nearly $4 million in state funding from the city unless they repeal their ordinance protecting youth.June 17: Under this threat, the Columbia City Council voted to repeal the ordinance, though the repeal will need to be voted on a second time before it becomes official. That second vote has not yet been scheduled, and for now the local law remains in effect.

Gender-neutral “X” markers on birth certificatesSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here.June 3: Puerto Rico will become the 18th state or territory (including D.C.) to allow a gender-neutral “X” marker on birth certificates. This court ruling will become final and binding in 30 days unless appealed, and then the state’s birth certificate registry will need to update its system before the option will be available to the public.

Bans on transgender kids playing school sportsSee our Equality Map here and our supporting citations and additional information here, including a chronology of laws and vetoes, a breakdown of grade applicability, and further analyses. There are now 29 states that ban transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. More than 2 in 5 (42%) transgender youth live in states with these bans.June 4: Nebraska became the 29th state with a ban on transgender youth’s participation in school sports. It applies to K-12 and higher education and will go into effect on July 1.

Changes in MAP’s Policy Tally categorizationsSee our Overall, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity Policy Tally maps here, summarizing states’ scores across all the 50+ laws and policies we track.South Carolina’s new law targeting local level conversion “therapy” protections dropped the state to “Negative” on our Sexual Orientation Tally. It was already “Negative” on both our Overall and Gender Identity Tallies.

▸▸  MAP’s LGBTQ Equality Bill TrackerTo continue highlighting trends across the country, included below are our current bill tracking counts for anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures.Note that these counts may differ from other organizations or public counts for a variety of reasons, and this work is greatly facilitated by the work of other organizations including the ACLU, Trans Formations Project, and the Equality Federation and their member state groups. As of June 20, 2025, MAP is tracking over 715 anti-LGBTQ bills across 49 states – i.e., every state but Vermont.

▸▸ MAP Policy Research UpdatesMore and more religious exemption laws have been enacted across the country in recent years. As a result, MAP’s policy team has revised and expanded the Equality Maps that track these laws for easier viewing and better understanding.

Click above or below to view our newly organized Equality Maps: Child welfare religious exemptions map shows states that permit child-placing agencies to refuse to place and provide services to children and families, including LGBTQ people and others, if doing so conflicts with their religious beliefs. Medical providers religious exemptions map shows states that permit medical providers to refuse to serve LGBTQ people and others, if doing so conflicts with the provider’s (or provider’s employer’s) religious beliefs. Marriage-related religious exemptions map shows two different kinds of marriage-related exemptions: those that permit private businesses to deny wedding-related services to same-sex couples, and those that permit public employees (such as those issuing wedding licenses) to refuse to work with couples of whose marriage they disapprove. “Religious Freedom Restoration Acts” (RFRA) map shows states that permit people, churches, non-profit organizations, and sometimes corporations to seek exemptions from state laws that they say burden their religious beliefs. The individual person or organization must seek out an exemption, such as through court proceedings; this is distinct from the other types of exemptions above, which instead grant a blanket license to discriminate to any child welfare service provider, medical provider, or other depending on the focus on the bill.

To schedule an interview with a MAP researcher or for questions, please contact Dana Juniel at dana@mapresearch.org.