The nonprofit think tank The Movement Advancement Project ( MAP ) has released a report, "LGBTQ Policy Spotlight: Mapping LGBTQ Equality in the U.S. South."
The report is being released in partnership with a new PBS series, Prideland, exploring LGBTQ communities across the South.
"LGBTQ Policy Spotlight" explores the LGBTQ policy landscape in the South in relation to the overall LGBTQ policy landscape for all U.S. states, based on a tallying of nearly 40 LGBTQ-related laws and policies.
Compared to the Northeast, West and Midwest, the South has the lowest average LGBTQ policy tally. Of the 14 states examined in the South, all but one are ranked as either negative equality states ( eight states ) or low equality states ( five states ). This means that 93 percent of LGBTQ Southerners live in negative- or low-equality states. Only Virginia is ranked as a fair equality statea development that occurred in the first months of 2020 and marking a potential beginning of change in the South.
The report offers both an analysis of key LGBTQ policy areas in the region today, and a retrospective look at overall changes among the states in the South since 2010.
For the complete report, visit www.lgbtmap.org/file/Spotlight-Southern-Report-VA.pdf .