D.C. earned the highest ranking possible from the Human Rights Campaign thanks to its laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, ensuring transgender people have access to healthcare, and supporting LGBTQ youth.
One such law is the LGBTQ Cultural Competency Continuing Education Amendment Act, which requires doctors to complete training on “attitudes, knowledge and skills that enable a health care professional to care effectively for patients who identify as LGBTQ.”
D.C. has the highest population of openly LGBTQ people in the United States, making up 9.8% of the district’s population, according to a study from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.
“Obviously, some people are hesitant to change, but from when I was little to now, the change has been drastic,” Elizabeth Hanje, a member of the Washington National Opera Institute, said.
Hanje said she was unaware of any resources that existed on campus to learn more about the LGBTQ community.
“I think the best way to learn is instead of looking for resources, asking and meeting people, talking to them, going to LGBTQ clubs and events,” said Mandy Kraft, an alum of American University.
Kraft said this year’s celebrations, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprisings, were a “monumental mark for the LGBTQ movement in America.”
Kraft, who works for the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA, said one of the government buildings in Alexandria recently put up a pride flag for the first time.
“[Pride celebrations] have had such a large, positive impact on the community,” she said.