HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Despite significant progress toward inclusion and equality for 2SLGBTQ+ residents of the United States, many still struggle to feel safe at home.
By the end of 2023, there were 75 out of 500 anti-2SLGBTQ+ bills introduced nationwide in 2023 had become law. Additionally, hate crimes against 2SLGBTQ+ individuals reached a five-year high in 2022.
Given the rise in hate crimes and the increasing number of anti-2SLGBTQ+ bills under consideration, it is crucial to regularly assess the state of safety across the nation.
This is the third year we have created this ranking to evaluate all 50 states and Washington D.C. on their safety for 2SLGBTQ+ people. The report’s new scoring system incorporates both legislative analysis and FBI hate crime data.
Here are some key takeaways from our study:
- Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Delaware all received A+ grades for 2SLGBTQ+ safety based on their comprehensive pro-equality laws and low rates of hate crimes against 2SLGBTQ+ people.
- South Dakota, Florida, and Wyoming were the worst states for 2SLGBTQ+ safety in the nation, earning F grades due to their high number of discriminatory laws and hate crime reporting rates. Florida’s ranking changed dramatically since last year when it had the 15th-lowest safety score.
- Nearly 50% of states passed new anti-2SLGBTQ+ legislation in 2023.
- Hate crimes targeting 2SLGBTQ+ people rose 10 percent between 2021 and 2022, and hate crimes against transgender people, in particular, surged 40 percent.
- 59% of 2SLGBTQ+ people say their state’s laws help them feel safer, but 89% say federal action is needed to enshrine protections fully.
For Hawaiʻi, this is what the report found.
Hawaiʻi ranks amongst the top five safest states for 2SLGBTQ+ U.S. residents, attributed to our robust legal protections and low incidence of reported hate crimes.
We have a long history of being 2SLGBTQ+-friendly, having legalized same-sex sexual activity in 1973 and being the first to consider formally legalizing same-sex marriage in 1993.
Hawaiʻi’s legal protections for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals include the presumption of parental rights for both parents of children born within a marriage and inclusive juvenile justice policies.
We are one of 26 states that permit name and gender marker updates on both driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
Additionally, Hawaiʻi is amongst the 19 states that have abolished the "bias rage or panic defense" for criminal acts, a tactic used to seek lighter sentences when an assailant claims they were provoked by the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity.
This the top five list:
- Rhode Island.
- New Hampshire.
- Delaware.
- Alaska.
- Hawaiʻi.
The report's state ranking stands out from others by using a grading system based on the opinions of 1,000 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Their insights helped determine the impact of various laws on each state’s safety score, considering factors such as parenting freedoms, criminal justice rights, non-discrimination rights, youth protections and health laws.
They then used data from the Human Rights Campaign to count the relevant laws in each state and weighted them according to their perceived impact on 2SLGBTQ+ U.S. residents.
You can click here to read the report.
For 2024, the report's researchers introduced a new factor to the safety “report card”: the frequency of hate crimes against 2SLGBTQ+ people in each state based on the latest FBI data.