Can you tell me some gay rights that our government doesn't allow?

Question

This year I'm doing the We The People competition, which is like a big event where your class goes and speaks about the Constition, rights, and the Founders Philosophys.

I chose to be in the group that talks about minority and civic rights, so I wanted some examples of what rights gay citizens have/need.

Any examples of rights/issues would be helpful. {Not only for this project, but also for future reference. (I'm gay, in case you couldn't figure that out...)}

Answer 1

In 31 states, it's legal to fire someone because they're gay; in 39 states it is legal to fire someone for being transgender.

There is no federal law preventing a same sex couple from being denied an apartment lease or home mortgage for no other reason than being gay.

Same sex couples can be denied medical visitation and/or decision making rights because they cannot legally marry. When a same sex partner recently became ill and died in Florida, their civil union from another state was not recognized and the same sex partner and their jointly adopted children were denied hospital visitation and medical decision making rights.

The remaining partner of a same sex couple may have to sell their home because they do not have the legal and financial protections that would come automatically if they had been legally married. The remaining partner also would not get their partner's Social Security benefits or pension, while the survivor of a married couple would have collect both.

Answer 2

It is hard to answer because not allowing as in having laws against rights and simply not including gays in the definition of other rights are a bit different and equally a problem. For instance in some states violence agaist G.L.B.T. or intersexed individuals is not considered a hate crime. As you know marriage between gays is not legal in over 47 of our 50 states and then only certain cities in some of those states have gay marriage. Many company or union funded insurance plans do not include partners in the holder's benefits which is idiotic. And also for the most part with few exceptions, partners whether joined in civil union or not aren't legally considered next of kin so in the cases of death and injury, partners may be helpless in the fight to see a partner in the hospital or recieve their pension or what have you. I encourage you to read up on all of these ideas, find more examples, aaaand find examples of cities, states or countries which do have the aforementioned gay rights and tell how it could work in the general population or where it's benefits lie!

Answer 3

The person above me covered this too but I'll post it too because I think it's important.

The #1 thing about LGBT lack of rights that pisses me off the most is that LGBT's are not protected under The Fair Housing Act and a lot of similar acts that protect things like discrimination at the workplace, etc...

In summary, to my knowledge, in America it is overall legal to fire someone, not hire someone, refuse to sell/rent a house to someone, etc... simply because of their sexual or gender orientation.

Answer 4

The list is too long to list properly...
however simply not being treated equal is important.
Most straight people cannot fathom the ostracism and rejection society in general can dish out.

Answer 5

There are over 2,000 rights and privileges that straight American citizens enjoy that we of the LGBT community do not get.
I suggest you go to the web sites of "Lambda Legal" and the ACLU.
Good luck on your project. Thanks for thinking of us.

Answer 6

We do not have the right to marry, and we can lose our jobs in some states without recourse.

Answer 7

HRC has a page devoted strictly to issues, this should give you a wealth of info.