LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit Rights

The ACLU works to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two Spirit people belong everywhere and can live openly and authentically without discrimination, harassment, or violence.

Image of people sitting on grass, one has a pride flag

The ACLU works to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two Spirit people belong everywhere and can live openly and authentically without discrimination, harassment, or violence.

The ACLU has a long history of defending the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit community. We brought our first LGBTQ rights case in 1936. What is now the Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović LGBTQ & HIV Project was founded in 1986 and renamed in 2021.

Today, the ACLU brings more LGBTQ + and Two Spirit rights cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national organization does. In fact, the ACLU has been counsel in seven of the nine LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit rights cases that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided — more than any other organization. With our reach into the courts and legislatures of every state, there is no other organization that can match our record of making progress both in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion.

The ACLU’s current priorities are to end discrimination, harassment and violence toward transgender people, to close gaps in our federal and state civil rights laws, to prevent protections against discrimination from being undermined by a license to discriminate, and to protect LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit people in and from the criminal legal system.

The Latest

News & Commentary
At a trans rally, person (wearing a denim vest and with their back to the camera) displays the sign stitched to the vest that reads "WE WILL PROTECT TRANS KIDS."

The Supreme Court Dealt A Blow to Trans Rights. Here's How to Take Action

The decision in Skrmetti v. U.S. is not the end of the road. We can, and must, show up for trans youth in the courts and in our communities.
News & Commentary
The Trans and LGBTQ+ flags waving in the wind in front of the Supreme Court Building in DC.

What the Marriage Equality Backlash Taught Me About the Fight for Trans Rights

Anti-trans laws aren’t just about bathrooms or sports, they’re about systematically pushing trans individuals out of public life.
News & Commentary
Trans Rights, speakers, protesters, and supporters denounce the Trump Administration's persistent attacks on the transgender community. by carrying a huge sign reading" TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS".

The Human Toll of Trump's Anti-Trans Crusade

President Donald Trump’s assault on transgender rights is a gross overreach of presidential power and yet another attempt to punish trans people just for existing.
Press Release
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North Dakota Decriminalizes State HIV Laws

This week, Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed into law House Bill 1217, legislation to reform North Dakota’s outdated laws that unfairly criminalized and stigmatized people living with HIV.
Issue Areas: LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit Rights