The definitive list of states considering anti-LGBT legislation

19 states have passed or are considering anti-LGBT legislation, prompting a backlash from the business community in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Alabama: CONSIDERING the Child Care Provider Inclusion Act, filed in the Senate as SB204 that would enable child care service providers, including adoption and foster care agencies, to institute faith-based policies on adoptions — including choosing not to place children in the care of same-sex couples.


Alaska: CONSIDERING “an Act relating to marriage solemnization,” SB120 would allow anyone authorized to perform a wedding ceremony to refuse marriages that conflict with their religious beliefs, such as same-sex marriages. It would also allow these officials to decline providing accommodations, facilities or other services related to the wedding.


Arizona: VETOED controversial SB1062, which would have allowed businesses to refuse service to LGBT customers due to religious beliefs, in February 2014 after large corporations and athletic organizations spoke out against the measure.

Arkansas: APPROVED AND REVISED its religious freedom act after intense pressure from businesses like Walmart. The altered bill closely mirrors the federal Religious Freedom Reformation Act that President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993. It does not explicitly forbid discrimination against people based on sexual orientation.

California: REJECTED the Student Freedom of Association Act, AB1212, a provision that would have allowed student groups to limit their membership and leadership to people of specific religious beliefs. Academic institutions that refused to allow this would have been denied state funding for student financial aid. The bill may be reintroduced.

Colorado: CONSIDERING two religious freedom bills that would have exempted religious leaders and organizations from participating in any ceremony including marriages that conflicted with their religious beliefs. Voting on the bills, HB1123 and HB1180, have been postponed indefinitely by the state Legislature.

Connecticut: passed a religious-freedom law in 1993 to ensure its citizens’ right to free exercise of religion. Also has an antidiscrimination provision that protects gay and lesbian couples, transgender people and others from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Delaware: Has no religious freedom law. Its anti-discrimination and hate crime measures prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in employment, housing, public accommodation and credit approval.

Florida: APPROVED religious-freedom bill HB43, which allows religious organizations including churches and schools to refuse to participate in any marriage ceremony due to conflicting religious beliefs. It will take effect July 1.

Georgia: VETOED controversial religious-freedom bill HB757 after public outcry from Hollywood, pro-sports organizations and the tech business elite in March. The bill would have allowed organizations to deny employment or the use of facilities based on religious belief or practice and grant workers the right to refuse to provide services for marriage ceremonies that may clash with their religious beliefs.

Hawaii: CONSIDERING several religious-freedom bills (HB1337, HB2532 and HB2764) that make it so religious groups would be protected from discrimination laws, meaning the state could not retaliate against them should they decline to provide services for same-sex marriages.

Idaho: REJECTED controversial legislation HB427 in 2014 that would have protected those who refused services due to religious objections from legal action.

Illinois: CONSIDERING the Religious Freedom Defense Act (SB2164), which would prevent government officials from taking legal action against citizens who believe marriage should be between one man and one woman, and HB4474, an amendment to the Child Privacy Act that would require students to use restrooms and changing rooms based on their sex assigned at birth and place restrictions on when transgender students could use single-person restrooms.

Indiana: APPROVED AND REVISED its religious freedom act after buckling to national pressure and boycotts over its religious-freedom act, a charge led by Salesforce’s CEO Marc Benioff. The state revised the measure, instituting an explicit ban on businesses refusing to serve because of a person’s sexuality or gender identity.

Iowa: CONSIDERING five different religious freedom bills (HF2032, SF2171, SF2044, SF2043 and HF2207) that would protect people who refuse to participate in same-sex marriages ceremonies for religious reasons and allows them to do so without risking legal repercussions or loss of tax breaks.

Kansas: APPROVED a law (SB175), which takes effect July 1, that allows student groups to limit membership to people of certain beliefs or faiths. It is also CONSIDERING two bills (HB2737 and SB513) that would require K-12 students to use restrooms according to their sex assigned at birth and allows any person who runs into a transgender person in restroom or locker room to sue the school for $2,500 per encounter.

Kentucky: CONSIDERING a law (SB180) that would prevent the government from compelling business owners and religious groups to serve all people — including LGBT people — and three others (HB28, HB17 and HB14) that would allow government officials and faith leaders to refuse to participate in same-sex weddings.

Louisiana: CONSIDERING a pastor-protection act (HB597) that would prevent religious groups and members of religious organizations to provide services for same-sex marriages.

Maine: REJECTED a religious freedom bill (LD1340) amid scrutiny and pressure from religious leaders who support same-sex unions. Maine’s anti-discrimination law also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity or expression.

Maryland: REJECTED a religious freedom bill (HB16) that would have allowed faith leaders to opt out of performing wedding ceremonies for couples whose marriage violated their religious beliefs. State law also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Massachusetts: CONSIDERING a law (HB1320) that would require people to use restrooms, changing rooms and gender-assigned living spaces, including schools, athletic facilities and therapeutic programs based on their “anatomical sex.”

Michigan: APPROVED a religious-freedom bill in 2015 that allows faith-based adoption agencies that receive state funding to refuse to serve potential adoptive parents if doing so would violate the group’s religious beliefs. The law largely affects same-sex couples.

Minnesota: has no anti-LGBT measure under way. Courts have ruled that Minnesota’s religious-freedom statutes are among the strongest in the country.

Mississippi: APPROVED the controversial Religious Liberty Accommodations Act (HB1523), which prevents the government from “discriminating” against an individual, business or religious group for acting based on their religious beliefs regarding sexuality, gender presentation and marital status. Widely considered the most sweeping anti-LGBT measure in the country, the law has been publicly derided by businesses, including Microsoft.

Missouri: CONSIDERING a bill that would expand exceptions to the Missouri Human Rights Act that would protect employers from refusing services due to religious belief (SB916) and an amendment to the state constitution that would allow religious organizations, businesses and individuals to refuse services to a same-sex couple due to religious beliefs (SJR39). The state is also considering legislation that would require students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on their sex assigned at birth (HB1624) — unless a transgender student receives a note from the school’s superintendent or is chaperoned by a school administrator (HB2303).

Montana: REJECTED religious-freedom law (HB615) in 2015 that would have given people grounds to disobey almost any state law that violated their religious beliefs.

Nebraska: CONSIDERING a law (LB975) that would allow faith-based adoption organizations and foster families to follow their religious beliefs when deciding where to place children, such as in LGBT households.

Nevada: REJECTED legislation in 2015 that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers on the basis of religious beliefs after determining the law did not protect the interests of all Nevadans.

New Hampshire: has no anti-LGBT measures pending. New Hampshire protects against discrimination and hate crimes based on sexual orientation.

New Jersey: CONSIDERING a law (A1706) that would provide an exemption allowing faith leaders to decline to bless same-sex marriages and civil unions. A travel ban was recently proposed by lawmakers that would prohibit state-sponsored travel to states adopting religious freedom statutes without explicitly protecting LGBT people from discrimination.

New Mexico: CONSIDERING a law that would expand the state’s religious-freedom law (HB55) to prevent a government agency or individual from being discriminated against for the expression of their religious beliefs.

New York: has no anti-LGBT bills pending. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has restricted public employees from making any nonessential work trips to North Carolina due to the state’s anti-LGBT laws.

North Carolina: APPROVED a bill (HB2) that prevents cities in the state from expanding the state’s non-discrimination laws to encompass LGBT people and rendered null and void a Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use public restrooms that corresponded with their expressed gender identity. The law has garnered public outcry and pushed PayPal to cancel a plan to move 400 jobs to the state, Bruce Springsteen to cancel a gig and numerous other businesses to back out of a convention scheduled for Durham, North Carolina. A lawsuit is under way.

North Dakota: REJECTED a ballot measure that would have allowed individuals the right to act or refuse to act due to religious belief. Voters shot down the measure in 2012.

Ohio: CONSIDERING legislation that would allow clergy to refuse to solemnize marriages that conflict with their religious beliefs (HB286) and businesses to refuse to participate in same-sex marriages due to faith-based conflicts (HB296). In 2014, legislation that would have allowed businesses to decline services for religious reasons was withdrawn because the lawmaker was concerned it would allow businesses to openly discriminate against LGBT customers.

Oklahoma: CONSIDERING more than 10 pieces of religious-freedom legislation, half of which were filed in 2015. The bills seek to strengthen a state religious-freedom law (SB898); express official disapproval of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage (HR1032); prohibit any government spending in support of same-sex marriage, including issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and state recognition of such unions (SB973); allow individuals and institutions to refuse “certain acts that violate a sincerely held religious belief” and ban the state from enacting any penalties (HJR1059); permit child-placing organizations such as adoption and foster agencies to refuse service to couples whose lives are not in line with the groups’ religious or moral beliefs (HB2428); and require people to use the restroom consistent with their biological gender (SB1014); among others.

Oregon: no anti-LGBT legislation pending. State law protects against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

Pennsylvania: no anti-LGBT laws pending. In April, Gov. Tom Wolf passed two executive orders extending equal protection to LGBT state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Rhode Island: has a religious freedom protection act that it passed in 1993 in which it asserts individuals’ rights to practice their religion of choice free from government intervention.

South Carolina: CONSIDERING nearly half a dozen proposals considered to be anti-LGBT. Those include a bill that would invalidate the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage by asserting that the term “marriage” be reserved for unions of one man and one woman and prohibit the enforcement of national law, which it describes as an “act of will, not legal judgment” (HB4513); two measures that would allow religious leaders to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies contrary to their religious beliefs (HB4446 and HB4508); a bill that would require students to participate in sports teams based on the sex marked on their birth certificates (HB4761); and a measure that would require people to use the restrooms in schools and other public buildings according to the sex assigned on their birth certificates — and prevent local municipalities from enacting different policies (SB1203).

South Dakota: REJECTED a religious-freedom bill that would have protected people who spoke out against same-sex marriage, the morality of same-sex relationships or transgender people from being fired, losing their funding, state contracts or tax exemption (HB1107) and a “bathroom bill” that would have required students to use restrooms and changing areas that correspond with the sex assigned on their birth certificates (HB1008).

Tennessee: CONSIDERING numerous anti-LGBT measures including legislation that would require state officials to flout federal law and uphold “marriage” as a union between one man and one woman (HB1412); a law that would allow faith leaders and religious groups to refuse to take part in same-sex marriage ceremonies (SB2329); a bill that would limit the authority to perform marriages to clergy (SB2462); a measure that would provide legal immunity for mental health specialists who refuse to aid people whose lives run counter to their religious beliefs (HB1840); and a law that would void any vital records, like marriage licenses and birth certificates, if the person has a gender expression that does not match his or her assigned sex at birth (SB2275).

Texas: APPROVED a Pastor Protection Act that went into effect in Sept. 2015 and allows clergy members to refuse to conduct marriages that do not conflate with their beliefs, such as same-sex marriages.

Utah: APPROVED a law in 2015 that protects religious organizations and LGBT people from discrimination (SB296). It expanded statewide anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity while allowing religious groups to remain exempt from that law.

Vermont: no anti-LGBT legislation is pending. Vermont joined several other states in banning state-sanctioned travel to states whose religious-freedom laws have been deemed discriminatory toward LGBT people.

Virginia: REJECTED religious-liberty laws that would have excused county clerks from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on the basis of religion (SB40) and prevented the government from taking legal action against a person who believes marriage should only be between one man and one woman (HB773). Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed legislation that offered protection to religious leaders and faith-based organizations that refused to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies (SB41).

Washington: CONSIDERING a bill that would allow faith-based groups, including religious schools, to refrain from supporting same-sex marriage (HB2752). The state legislature killed a bill that would have banned government retaliation against individuals or businesses refuse to participate in same-sex weddings on the basis of religion (HB2631).

West Virginia: REJECTED a bill that would have allowed individuals and groups to use a “sincerely held religious belief” as a legal defense in court for refusing to provide services due to religious conviction (HB4012).

Wisconsin: no anti-LGBT laws pending. State law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity.

Wyoming: REJECTED religious-freedom laws two years in a row. In 2015, a bill that would have created a state Religious Freedom Restoration Act was voted down. This year, a bill that would have prevented state and local governments from penalizing people for believing marriage is only between one man and one woman failed (HB0098). Lawmakers citedfears of losing tourism and business dollars.

Source: Chronicle research