Background
The right to sexuality incorporates the right to express one's sexuality, and to be free from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It specifically refers to the protection of the rights of people of diverse sexual orientations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people (although it is equally applicable to heterosexuality). The right to sexuality, and to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, is based on the universality of human rights belonging to every person by virtue of being human.
Transgender Symbol
From the female and male symbols. Intersexual or transgender.
The right to sexuality does not exist explicitly in international human rights law; rather, it is found in a number of international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
LGBT Rights in the United States
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in the United States have evolved over time and vary on a state-by-state basis. Sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex (depending on the age of consent in each state, varying from age 16 to 21), and adolescents of a close age, have been legal nationwide in the U.S. since 2003, pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
Twenty-one states plus Washington, D.C. outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and sixteen states plus Washington, D.C. outlaw discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are also punishable by federal law under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.
Adoption policies in regard to LGBT parents also varied greatly from state to state, but since March 2016, a federal judge in Mississippi overturned the last remaining state law that prohibited such adoptions.