Our partnerships make our work possible. The State LGBT+ Business Climate Index is financially supported by a grant from the Gill Foundation. The Index is based on data graciously shared by the Movement Advancement Project and the Williams Institute. Ropes & Gray is our pro bono legal partner for the CEO Business Briefs globally, and their research informs this Index. FCB partnered with us to conduct original market research into American attitudes toward LGBT+ workplace inclusion, informing the Regional Context section of the State CEO Briefs. America Competes supported the development of the scoring for the Risk Assessments detailed below, particularly for the Future Risk score.

Out Leadership and FCB partnered on original market research into the attitudes of American workers on LGBT+ inclusion, which fielded in March and April 2019. The full results will be launched in the spring of 2020; we are able to share preliminary regional comparisons in this brief.

Overall, 52.5% of LGBT+ workers in the West are out at work. However, urbanicity has a big impact on whether LGBT+ workers feel comfortable sharing personal information at work (LGBT+ workers are 26% less likely to share when in rural areas vs 4% less likely to share in urban areas compared to national average). There is also a big impact when it comes to age and being open to managers, with older LGBT+ workers in this region being more likely to share with their managers than any other age group nationwide (52% more likely). West workers are also 14% more likely to report microaggressions at work which may be why LGBT+/Allies are also 15% more likely to say they want to work with companies that are more supportive of LGBT+ rights. Even though there are reports of microaggressions in the workplace, workers in this region were 35% less likely to say that the state’s leadership talked negatively about LGBT+ issues.

Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons for more or less likely are compared to the National results. Regional results are based off of 1,500 respondents (LGBT+ and Non-LGBT+ responses have been weighted to be age-representative for each audience in each region). National results are based off of 600 respondents representative of each audience (LGBT+ vs Non-LGBT+).

States in the Western region included: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

Legal status of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community

• – Alaska does not have a comprehensive nondiscrimination law inclusive of sexual orientation or gender identity. On a local level, the municipalities of Anchorage, Juneau, and Sitka have protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the context of public and private employment, public accommodations, and housing.
• – State employees are protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation but not gender identity.- There is no explicit protections for youths in foster care from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
• – There are no explicit restrictions against same-sex couples adopting, but there are also no laws forbidding adoption agencies from discriminating against them.
• – Alaska does not have a religious exemption law, but there are state court decisions interpreting the state’s religious liberty protections to require strict scrutiny, to a similar end.
• – Alaska has no statute explicitly criminalizing HIV transmission or exposure, but enhanced sentencing may be applied based on a defendant’s HIV status if they are found guilty of one of several specified sex offenses (including incest and sexual offenses against minors).
• – Hate crimes laws in the state don’t cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
• – There is no ban on conversion therapy in Alaska.

Legal status of the Transgender Community

• – Alaskans can amend the gender markers on a birth certificate, though the original demarcation will still appear in fine print. The process requires a name change form and either a letter from a physician or a court-ordered gender-change form.
• – Alaskans can amend the gender markers on a driver’s license. It requires a name change and either a letter signed by a clinician that the applicant has undergone appropriate treatment or an updated birth certificate, U.S. Passport, or court order for gender change.
• – Trans healthcare is specifically excluded from coverage under Alaska’s Medicaid program.
• – There are no laws excluding trans healthcare from insurance, but there also aren’t any laws mandating or protecting it.

Government statements and actions

• – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the third Senate Republican to publicly support marriage equality, back in 2013.
• – The City Council of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-largest city, passed LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections in February 2019, but the mayor vetoed them. Fairbanks has at least two transgender / non-binary identified city assembly members.
• – The city of Bethel also has a non-discrimination policy for city employees.
• – The city of Juneau elected its first out gay city assembly member in 2019 (Greg Smith), and successfully gained a city-sanctioned and installed rainbow crosswalk downtown in 2019. While Juneau has a non-discrimination ordinance now, there is nobody to enforce it should there be a complaint. Juneau also enjoys a robust annual Pride celebration, now in its 34th year (2020).
• – There is a lawsuit against the state health insurance provider for not covering trans health care.
• – The State House introduced an LGBT+ equality bill in 2019 but is languishing in committee.
• – State Attorney General Kevin Clarkson filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in summer 2019 in support of legalized employment discrimination against LGBT+ people. Clarkson has a long history of advocating for anti-LGBT+ discrimination.