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LGBTQ-related curricular laws are important for LGBTQ students’ health, well-being, and academic success. This map shows multiple distinct policies related to LGBTQ inclusion in—or exclusion from—school curricula or standards. First, LGBTQ-inclusive curricular laws explicitly require the state’s curricular standards to include LGBTQ people and history, such as in subjects like history, civics, or social studies. Harmful, exclusionary laws include older-style censorship laws that restrict how schools can discuss “homosexuality” in specific subjects; parental notification laws, which require parents to be notified in advance of any LGBTQ-related curricula and allow parents to opt their children out of those classes (or require them to opt-in); and finally more recent “Don’t Say LGBTQ” laws that explicitly censor teachers and staff from discussing LGBTQ people or issues throughout all curricula. Click “Citations & More Information” beneath the map legend for more information about all these types of laws, and learn more about the importance of inclusive curricular standards from GLSEN.
State law explicitly requires LGBTQ inclusion in state curricular standards (7 states)
State law requires state education department to create LGBTQ-inclusive model curriculum, but does not require schools to use it (1 state)
State has none of these LGBTQ-specific curricular laws (25 states , 5 territories + D.C.)
State law restricts how schools can discuss “homosexuality” in specific curricula (e.g., sex education) (see note) (4 states)
State law requires advance parental notification of any LGBTQ-related curricula and allows parents to opt their children out (or requires opt-in) (8 states)
State law explicitly censors discussions of LGBTQ people or issues throughout all school curricula (i.e., “Don’t Say LGBTQ”) (9 states)
*Notes: –In the late 1980s, amidst the HIV/AIDS crisis, states began to enact censorship laws restricting how schools could discuss “homosexuality” in specific subjects like sex or health education. In 2021, these censorship efforts saw a resurgence–and a dramatic escalation–beginning with Florida’s “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law that explicitly banned any discussion of LGBTQ people or issues throughout all school subjects, curricula, learning materials, and more. Click “Citations & More Information” above for further details and sources about each and every state. —Arkansas and Florida have both a “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law censoring discussions of LGBTQ people in schools and a parental notification law. The parental notification laws were enacted first in both states. —Louisiana has both an older-style law (enacted 1987) limiting discussion of homosexuality in specific subjects and a “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law (enacted 2024) now censoring discussions of LGBTQ people throughout all subjects and settings. –In March 2024, the state of Florida settled a lawsuit that limited the scope of the state’s “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law to instruction only. This means that students can, for example, ask questions about LGBTQ people or issues and teachers can respond, that schools can have Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs), and more. However, the ban still applies to classroom instruction, which is the focus of this map. –In December 2023, a federal judge temporarily blockedIowa‘s “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law. –Click “Citations & More Information” beneath the map legend, or the “Citations” tab above, for more information about these and all states.
Often, laws requiring LGBTQ-inclusive curricular standards also require inclusive representation of other communities like people of color, people with disabilities, and religious minorities. Learn more about the importance of inclusive curricular standards from GLSEN.
*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of LGBTQ youth in the U.S. territories or under age 13 are not available, and so cannot be reflected here. Population estimates are from The Williams Institute.
25%
25 % of LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) live in states that require inclusion of LGBTQ people/history in school curricular standards
1%
1 % of LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) live in states that require the state education department to develop an LGBTQ-inclusive model curriculum, but do not require schools to use it
36%
36 % of LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) live in states with none of these LGBTQ-specific curricular laws
13%
13 % of LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) live in states that restrict how schools can discuss “homosexuality” in specific curricula (e.g., sex education) (see note beneath the map)
15%
15 % of LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) live in states that require parental notification of any LGBTQ-related curricula and allow parents to opt their children out (or require opt-in)
20%
20 % of LGBTQ youth (ages 13-17) live in states that explicitly censor discussions of LGBTQ people or issues throughout all school curricula (i.e., “Don’t Say LGBTQ”)
Out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allowed Donald Trump donor Elon Musk and his team access to the payment system used by the federal government. Musk is threatening to illegally stop spending mandated by Congress and has ordered the shutdown of USAID, which delivers humanitarian aid on behalf of the United States, claiming that Donald Trump wants him to. Trump does not have the authority to end USAID.
According to reporting from several media outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post, and the New York Times, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury David Lebryk has been put on leave because he tried to stop Musk and his team from getting access to the payment system and the data it uses this past Friday. Lebryk has been in charge of the system that issues payments on behalf of the federal government for the last 15 years and is known for his “unparalleled” understanding of the system, according to Rolling Stone.
“To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. “I am concerned that mismanagement of these payment systems could threaten the full faith and credit of the United States.”
Reuters reported that Musk and his team had locked out the civil servants whose jobs were to actually run the payment system and gave his unvetted team called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to the personal data of millions of federal employees. DOGE is not a real federal executive department, and its unvetted team includes young college graduates between the ages of 19 and 24 who have little to no governmental experience and no security clearances.
The billionaire said that he intends to cut $4 billion in federal spending per dayuntil September 30. The system that he accessed handles payments for Social Security, government salaries, tax refunds, and contractors hired by the government.
Neither Musk nor Trump have the authority to stop payments for spending ordered by Congress. It’s unclear what will happen if Musk gets the Trump adminsitration to stop payments illegally, but people could challenge his decisions in court. It’s unclear if the Trump administration would respect court decisions if they’re willing to ignore Congress’ spending decisions, and the takeover of the payment system could prevent career government employees from following court orders in defiance of Trump’s unilateral spending decisions.
This is a massive power grab, and Bessent has been key in creating this constitutional crisis. The New York Times reports that he gave Musk access to the payment system on Friday as part of an agreement, the same day that Lebryk was put on leave and then announced his sudden retirement. Bessent, an anonymous official told Politico, agreed to a plan that would give Cloud Software Group CEO Tom Krause access to the payment system to act as a liaison between Musk’s DOGE and the Treasury.
“The secretary’s approval was contingent on it being essentially a read-only operation,” the source said, referring to the code of the system that processes payments.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk “won’t have direct authority to stop individual payments or make other changes” under the agreement. But Musk getting access to the code of the payment system suggests that he is considering rewriting that code, and Bessent could be a willing accomplice in implementing those changes.
The payment system, run by the Bureau of Fiscal Service, is “studiously apolitical,” according to Lily Batchelder, Treasury secretary for tax policy under former President Joe Biden. This runs counter to Musk’s and Trump’s belief, according to the Wall Street Journal, that the system should be run by political appointees. Politicizing the payment system could allow Trump to bypass court decisions forcing the government to spend money authorized by Congress, removing a safeguard to Trump unilaterally — and illegally — cutting federal programs.
Musk said over the weekend on social media that the payment system had been sending money to “known fraudulent or terrorist groups,” but he didn’t provide any evidence. The Bureau of Fiscal Service has safeguards in place to prevent improper payments and it seems unlikely that Musk would have been able to spot such payments in mere hours that the Bureau hadn’t noticed in years.
He also complained that the Bureau hasn’t refused to send a payment that it was ordered to in its history, even though it does not have the legal authority to veto spending authorized by Congress.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has called for a congressional investigation into the events.
Indiana State University is being sued for First Amendment violations by an LGBTQ+ group that claims the school is refusing to let them hold a Pride festival on campus.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on behalf of The Pride Center of Terre Haute, claims that ISU officials have prohibited the group from hosting a 2025 Pride celebration on the university’s Quad, an outdoor student area explicitly designated for “expressive activity,” despite allowing and sponsoring the event in 2023 and 2024.
The Pride Center, an LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit dedicated to creating a positive impact on the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals in Vigo County, accuses the university of securing an agreement with the city of Terre Haute to hold this year’s festival at an off-campus city park without the group’s knowledge or consent. It maintains that holding the celebration off-campus would defeat the purpose of the event, which is to show that the campus is welcoming to LGBTQ+ students, staff, and visitors.
The Pride Center claims that this is “part of a recent pattern of ISU preventing or discouraging actions and events that are intended to support the LGBTQ+ community,” according to the lawsuit, and that the “actions of ISU in not allowing Pride Fest 2025 to occur on campus violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
“ISU’s failure to provide Pride Fest an on-campus location is directly related to the message of inclusivity, equality, and support conveyed by all Pride festivals,” ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said in a statement. “It is clear that the university is censoring Pride Fest because of its support of the LGBTQ+ community. The Pride Center has a First Amendment right to hold their festival in the Indiana State University Quad – a space explicitly designated as a place for free expression.”
The popular vote might not have worked, but you can always vote with your dollar and/or time.
A second term under Donald Trump endangers the well-being of LGBTQ+ people, women, immigrants, people of color, and everyone else. It will also most likely lead to more censorship and rolling back protections against climate change. But the activists and organizations advocating for these causes aren’t going quietly — they’re getting louder. Many have resisted during Trump’s first term, and are ready to do so again.
The fight does not end with donations, but it’s still a great way for those with the means to make their priorities known and impact change. For those who aren’t able to give, consider using your time and other skills in your community instead.
For those who are able to give, here are 26 groups whose work is going to be critical during a second Trump administration that you can donate to. If you can’t contribute money, many also list other ways to contribute.
Elevated Access
Nonprofit Elevated Access is dedicated to helping patients receive reproductive health care, offering flights at no cost to those who must travel for abortions and gender-affirming care.
This national progressive advocacy organization focuses on preserving the rights of the marginalized in court, fighting against book bans and to preserve democracy and voting rights.
The Transgender Law Center fights to change law, policy, and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.
As the biggest LGBTQ+ group in the U.S., HRC lobbies for queer rights and candidates, fighting to “ensure that all LGBTQ+ people, and particularly those of us who are trans, people of color and HIV+, are treated as full and equal citizens.”
PEN America works to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others.
Planned Parenthood is nonprofit organization that provides reproductive and sexual healthcare and sexual education, including abortions and birth control.
American Civil Liberties Union (and Drag Defense Fund)
The ACLU is a nonprofit that assists in legal cases where civil rights are involved, including abortion care, trans people’s right to live freely, and people’s right to vote. It also hosts the Drag Defense Fund, which legally defends drag performers’ freedom of speech and self-expression.
Midwest Access Coalition (MAC) is a practical abortion fund that helps people traveling to, from, and within the Midwest to access a safe and legal abortion.
The SPLC is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights, fighting to strengthen democracy, counter white supremacy, end mass incarceration, and eradicate racial inequality in the American South.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People remains the longest-serving organization dedicated to fighting for civil rights of people of color.
The Sherlock’s Homes Foundation provides housing, employment opportunities, and a loving support system, for homeless LGBTQ+ young adults so that they can live fearlessly as their authentic selves.
CAIR has worked for decade both to educate the public on mainstream Islamic faith and prevent legal obstructions to their rights, such as the many policies proposed and enacted by Trump’s first administration.
Sylvia Rivera Law Project seeks to guarantee people’s freedom to self-determine and express their gender identity, fighting for both financial and legal empowerment for everybody across the spectrum of gender.
Americans for Immigrant Justice
Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) is a nonprofit law firm that fights for justice for immigrants through a combination of direct representation, impact litigation, advocacy, and outreach.
Know Your IX was named for its mission to educate college students about their Title IX rights. The group also gives voice to survivors of sexual assault and offers channels for reporting sexual harassment.
A project of the American Immigration Council, this organization will be lobbying against deportation policy both from the White House and the halls of Congress.
Emily’s List is an organization that trains Democratic women (who are pro-choice) in the basics of running for office, from school board to senator. The group had a hand in getting Kamala Harris, Tammy Duckworth, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Maggie Hassan elected.
This group fights for the rights of scientists to conduct, publish, and discuss their research and advocate for science without the threat of political harassment, censorship, or legal intimidation.
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is an organization focused on protecting the children of immigrants, fighting against deportation and family separation.
ORAM provides legal assistance, advances economic inclusion through livelihood programs, champions the rights of LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees on the global stage and provides critical emergency response to underserved communities.
ProPublica uses a nonprofit model to produce and disseminate investigative reporting, and has continuously fact-checked the Trump Administration to dispel the misinformation surrounding his campaign.
The global organization works to “fight abuses of human rights, bring torturers to justice, change oppressive laws, and free people jailed just for voicing their opinion.”
Senior Lesbians in Community (SLIC) Social Group. In addition to the twice per month social groups, there are many other events to attend! Sign up for their meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/slic11/
Come enjoy some pub trivia in a queer friendly environment. Bring your own team or chat with some of the established teams to see if they need more players.
All ages welcome. Free to play, but please consider supporting Brew by purchasing food or beverages.
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A San Francisco address that was once the site of a pre-Stonewall transgender uprising has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of historic sites, buildings, and objects in the United States.
The National Park Service added the building at 101-102 Taylor St. in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood to its official list of historic U.S. places worthy of preservation on January 27, without any public statement or press release, The Bay Area Reporter first reported.
The address was the location of Compton’s Cafeteria in the 1960s. One night in August 1966, a riot broke out at the 24-hour eatery between its trans and queer patrons and police officers after a drag queen threw a cup of coffee at a cop who was trying to arrest her. The café’s windows were shattered and a police car destroyed amid the protest against police harassment, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
The site is likely the first landmark to be registered specifically for its connection to the history of the transgender community, trans scholar and historian Susan Stryker, whose 2005 documentary Screaming Queen details the riot, told The Bay Area Reporter.
“There is Stonewall and sites connected to individual people like Pauli Murray, who was nonbinary,” Stryker noted. “But this is the first thing put on the register specifically because of its connection to the history of the transgender movement.”
Madison Levesque, an architectural historian with the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, first submitted a request for the site to be added to the national registry in 2022 as part of their master’s thesis in public history.
“Today, the Compton’s Cafeteria riot is remembered as a turning point towards militant resistance in the LGBTQ, and particularly transgender, community,” Levesque wrote in their 2022 application. “The property is significant at the national level because of its influence on the future political and social representation of transgender and gender-variant people within the United States.”
Stryker, whose work informed Levesque’s initial application and a revised version submitted late last year, credited Levesque with making the registration happen.
Historian and historic preservation planner Shayne Watson said that the news was “something to celebrate” amid the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on transgender rights. In just his first two weeks in office, President Donald Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders intended to further marginalize transgender Americans.
Earlier this week, the National Parks Service removed the letters T and Q from the “LGBTQ+” initials on its website for New York City’s Stonewall National Monument, effectively erasing trans, queer, and gender-nonconforming people’s leading role in the 1969 uprising that is widely recognized as the beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The move appears to be an effort to comply with Trump’s executive orders prohibiting any federal recognition of trans people in any aspect of civic life.
The hubs and duds of queer life in modern America have been revealed, thanks to a report from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The good news: wherever you are, you’re not alone. Overall, 14.1 million people reported that they “identify as LGBT” between 2020 and 2021, making up a significant portion of the population at 5.6 percent. By state, there wasn’t a single area with an LGBTQ+ population of less than 4 percent.
However, compared to others, some states still have less than half as many queer people proportionally.
While the report did not give any reasoning as to why some states have larger LGBTQ+ demographics than others, the states with the lowest percentages of queer people all but one have pushed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year.
Here are the states with the smallest queer communities, and the legislation facing them.
5. South Carolina (Tie)
South Carolina’s 192,800 LGBTQ+ adults account for 4.9 percent of the state’s population. There were 32 anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed this year, according to the ACLU’s legislation tracker, with one passed into law — an extreme ban against gender-affirming care for youth, as well as requiring school staff forcibly out them to their guardians.
5. North Dakota (Tie)
North Dakota’s LGBTQ+ population also accounts or 4.9 percent of its overall population, but their queer community is fewer in number, with 28,400 members. There were no anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed this year in the state, which pushed 17 anti-LGBTQ+ bills last year, 10 of which became law.
4. Iowa
Iowa‘s 113,600 LGBTQ+ adults account for 4.7 percent of the population. 37 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been considered in the state in 2024, four of which passed — including religious exemptions for discrimination.
3. Alabama
Alabama has 173,000 LGBTQ+ people, making up 4.6 percent of the population. Four anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed in the state this year one of which passed that forces universities to implement trans bathroom bans.
2. North Carolina
North Carolina‘s LGBTQ+ population accounts for 4.4 percent of the state’s population, with 353,100 people. There were six anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed in the state, none of which have yet been defeated or advanced.
1. Mississippi (Tie)
Mississippi’s 93,300 LGBTQ+ adults account for 4.1 percent of the population. There were 23 anti-LGBTQ+ bills been proposed in the state this year, four of which passed. The laws include a ban against trans people using the public facilities that align with their identities, and a legal redefinition of gender that incorrectly conflates it to biological sex.
1. West Virginia (Tie)
West Virginia’s LGBTQ+ community also accounts for 4.1 percent of the population, but their 60,000 queer adults are less in number than Mississippi. West Virginia has considered 33 anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, one of which passed — enacting barriers to accurate legal identification.
Takeaways
The states with the fewest queer people are also some of the states proposing the most anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
While there is no data (yet) around mass queer exoduses from these states, some could be moving to avoid legislation. Others may not feel comfortable coming out for census data.
And while it may not seem as if the South is a popular place for LGBTQ+ people, by raw population, the region actually has the largest percentage of queer adults. The 5.2 million LGBTQ+ people in southern states account for 36.9 percent of the queer people in the U.S.
While we may not be the majority, LGBTQ+ people across the country have an enormous and undeniable presence wherever they call home.
