Ten Things Every American Ought to Know
- Same-sex couples live in 99.3 percent of all counties nationwide (2000 U.S. Census).
- The federal government could save more than $1 billion a year by allowing same-sex couples to marry (2004 Congressional Budget Office).
- There are more than 1 million gay and lesbian veterans in the United States (Urban Institute).
- Sixty-one percent of Americans believe the country needs laws protecting transgender individuals from discrimination (2002 HRC Foundation poll).
- Nearly half of all Fortune 500 Companies offer domestic partner health benefits (2004 HRC State of the Workplace Report).
- You can still be fired from your job in most states, simply for being GLBT, and have no legal recourse — because currently, no federal employment law includes GLBT Americans.
- Eighty-four percent of GLBT students report being verbally harassed — name-calling, threats etc. — at school (GLSEN 2003).
- There are at least 1 million children being raised by same-sex couples in the United States — and probably many more (2000 U.S. Census).
- Hate crimes against GLBT Americans are on the rise, even as other violent crimes continue to decline (FBI Hate Crimes Statistics 2004). Current federal hate crime laws do not protect GLBT Americans.
- In a national poll in 2006, 80 percent of Catholics said they agree with this statement: "Marriage is about love and commitment. Regardless of how I personally feel about gay people getting married, I don’t think it is my place to judge these people’s love for and commitment to each other." (Accredited Research by Peter D. Hart & Associates).