The many laws being introduced are brought at state legislatures – which is not the same as Congress, which is federal. However, the legislative process for state governments is similar to that for the federal government/congress. A law may be drafted or analyzed by a committee, and there may be committee reports. A law may start either at the state house of representatives or the state senate and move back and forth between the two as the bill is consolidated.
Each state has its own resources for legislative research. The availability and types of legislative documents produced by state legislatures will vary considerably between states. Usually, the best place to start state legislative research will be the state legislature's website to find and track the bill number you want to learn more about. Congress.gov has created this page with links to each state legislature's website: https://www.congress.gov/state-legislature-websites.
It's important to remember that your state representative and state senator are not the same as your representative or senator in Congress. To find out who your state legislators are, consider searching here: Find Your State Legislators - Open States.
To learn about the legislative process in a specific state you may want to check out this guide by the Library of Congress: Guide to Law Online: U.S. States and Territories - Research Guides at Library of Congress (loc.gov).
To stay up to date on current cases concerning LGBTQ+ issues, check out Equality Case Files, where you can search for older closed litigation-related documents and files and learn more about some of the recent cases that are being tracked.
To read compiled case opinions, including over 150 edited appellate court opinions in the U.S. adjudicating lesbian and gay rights claims, see this online Casebook on Sexual Orientation and the Law compiled by CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice Professor Daniel Pinello. Cases are arranged by Case Name, Court, Subject Matter, and Year (1978-present).
Learn how to do basic legal research using freely available online resources in this legal research guide, which provides links to resources and information on finding statutes, cases, regulations, and more. For example, Google Scholar can be used to search for case law by clicking on the circle under the search bar next to Case Law and selecting which court you would like to find cases from.
HeinOnline is a database that includes law-related scholarly articles on many issues. In particular, the HeinOnline LGBTQ+ Rights Guide includes a timeline of LGBTQ+ rights, materials on family law, employment law, healthcare law, public spaces, Supreme Court Briefs, scholarly articles, and more.
Cornell community members also have access to NexisUni, a database used to access law review articles and conduct legal research on cases and legislation, and Bloomberg Law, which has a section on Gender Identity Discrimination in the workplace.
Law journals or Law Review are scholarly publications focused on legal issues, commentary, and legal analysis. Law review journals are typically run by law students who publish articles often written by law professors, lawyers, and judges. Below are law journals that specialize in publishing issues related to gender, sexuality, discrimination, equality, and the law. All links are publicly accessible.
Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality
Harvard Journal of Law & Gender
Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law
Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality
Journal of Gender, Race & Justice
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law
American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law
University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class
The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution mandates that individuals be treated equally by the law.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education. The citation for Title IX is 20 U.S. Code § 1681.
42 U.S. Code § 18116 prohibits discrimination when providing healthcare.
Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects workers in protected classes, including transgender workers, from discrimination.
The Federal Department of Education has also released their interpretation of how Title IX can be enforced with respect to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in light of the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County.
Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, is a U.S. Supreme Court case decision published in June 2020 which ruled that an individual cannot be fired from their employment solely based on their transgender identity.
The American Bar Association Transgender Resources page includes links to the legal information helpdesk, reports and surveys on issues affecting transgender people, guides and training materials, know-your-rights materials, and links to legal organizations and programs.
Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is the leading research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. They conduct rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. The Institute disseminates its research to policymakers, judges, the media, and other stakeholders to ensure that decisions impacting the lives of millions of LGBT people and families are based on data and facts.
LGBT Legal Materials: After Obergefell is a research guide from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law designed to aid members of the LGBT community and those researching legal issues specific to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
LGBTQ Issues in the Law is a research guide from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Library with additional resources related to LGBTQ legal issues.
LGBTQ History in Government Documents is a research guide by the University of California San Diego which includes a timeline of documents with links to Federal Government Documents in history related to LGBTQ history in the United States, including statutory authority, fact sheets, and executive orders.