Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals
Executive Order 14075, titled Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals, was signed in June 2022. It directs federal agencies to take a broad, coordinated approach to reduce discrimination against LGBTQI+ people and expand access to health care, education, housing, and social supports. The order emphasizes protecting LGBTQI+ youth from harmful practices, strengthening non-discrimination protections in federal programs, and expanding data collection and evidence to better measure and address disparities. It creates new initiatives, working groups, and reporting requirements across HHS, Education, HUD, State, and other agencies, and it sets timelines for issuing guidance, policies, and plans. In short, the order leverages executive authority to push federal agencies to adopt policy guidance, develop model policies, and fund or coordinate programs aimed at improving health, safety, education, housing, and overall equality for LGBTQI+ individuals, with particular focus on youth, families, and underserved communities. It relies on interagency collaboration and reporting rather than creating new statutory rights.
Key Points
- 1Protecting health care access and promoting health equity for LGBTQI+ people
- 2- HHS must use its authority to safeguard medically necessary care from discriminatory State/local practices and develop sample policies to expand care, including mental health services. Education also must develop sample policies to support LGBTQI+ students and families.
- 3- Timeline: within 200 days to release sample policies; ongoing coordination across health and education sectors.
- 4Strong stance against conversion therapy
- 5- Initiates an HHS program to reduce youth exposure to conversion therapy, with steps such as issuing guidance, increasing awareness of harms, training providers, and pursuing funding for trauma-informed services.
- 6- The Federal Trade Commission is encouraged to consider whether conversion therapy is an unfair or deceptive practice.
- 7- Foreign policy action plan within 180 days to end its use globally, and embassies worldwide to report on the practice.
- 8Expanded family supports and youth well-being
- 9- Establishes efforts to promote family counseling and support programs for LGBTQI+ youth, including expanding federal funding opportunities, research on family rejection versus support, and ensuring data address LGBTQI+ disparities.
- 10- Focus areas include school, health, and child welfare settings, with a goal of safer, more supportive environments.
- 11Child welfare, juvenile justice, and protection from discrimination
- 12- Strengthens non-discrimination protections in HHS programs and creates an initiative to partner with state child welfare agencies to reduce disparities (e.g., over-representation of LGBTQI+ youth, homelessness after aging out of foster care, and discrimination against LGBTQI+ parents/caregivers).
- 13- AG shall establish a clearinghouse to train jurisdictions on serving LGBTQI+ youth within a continuum-of-care framework.
- 14Housing stability and homelessness prevention
- 15- HUD will form a Working Group on LGBTQI+ Homelessness and Housing Equity to address barriers to housing, improve services, and ensure compliance with fair housing laws; seeks funding for culturally appropriate LGBTQI+ housing services.
- 16Education, schools, and student supports
- 17- Secretary of Education will create a Working Group on LGBTQI+ Students and Families to promote safe, inclusive schools; develop guidance, training, and sample policies; improve access to school-based health and mental health services; and fund programs to improve outcomes for LGBTQI+ students and homeless youth.
- 18Health and aging: older adults and data-driven equity
- 19- Addresses discrimination against LGBTQI+ older adults in long-term care settings; aims to publish a plain-language “Bill of Rights for LGBTQI+ Older Adults”; considers targeting outreach and funding under the Older Americans Act; improves data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity among older adults.
- 20Data collection, evidence, and responsible practices
- 21- Establishes a subcommittee on SOGI data to coordinate federal data improvements; develops a Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity to identify disparities, target data collections, and set privacy safeguards.
- 22- Agencies must submit SOGI Data Action Plans; OMB will coordinate budget requests to support SOGI data work; OMB will publish best-practice guidance for collecting SOGI data and annually review data practices.
- 23Reporting and oversight
- 24- Requires annual reporting to the President by several agencies (Attorney General, HHS, Education, HUD, State, OMB) on progress implementing the respective sections of the order, with specific focus areas for each agency.
- 25General provisions
- 26- The order does not override existing law or create new rights; implementation depends on applicable law and available appropriations.