EdgeBoston.com – by Kilian Melloy – EDGE Boston Contributor
More than half of Americans now live in areas where non-discrimination laws that protect gay and lesbian workers and residents are either currently in effect, or are expected to come into effect in the near future, according to an analysis of census data and current laws around the country conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
“We still have a very long way to go, but the tide is clearly shifting,” Matt Foreman, NGLTF executive director, said.
Other statistics reported by the NGLTF: about 40 percent of Americans now live in districts where anti-discrimination protections extend, or soon will extend, to transgender people, marking a sevenfold increase in the last seven years; and about 20 percent of Americans live in states that provide substantial protections for same-sex families or have passed laws for such protections that will come into effect soon, constituting an eightfold increase over the last three years.