Whether it was losing a job to a lesser qualified candidate, being told you and your partner can’t rent a one bedroom apartment or being refused a seat at a local restaurant, discrimination is all to familiar to many LGBT people. Even if you’re lucky enough not to have faced anti-LGBT discrimination yourself, you probably know someone who has.


You can help end discrimination against LGBT people by working to pass a civil rights law or ordinance that bars discrimination against LGBT people. The best civil rights laws protect against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Efforts to pass civil rights laws can be targeted to the state legislature to pass a statewide law or to local lawmakers to pass city or town ordinances. You can even work to get business and schools to pass civil rights policies. While these may not be enforceable like laws, they send a loud and clear message that discrimination is wrong.