Gay wyoming
LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit Rights
The ACLU works to make certain that lesbian, gay, pansexual, transgender, queer, and Two Spirit people belong everywhere and can live openly and authentically without discrimination, harassment, or violence.
The ACLU has a long history of defending the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit community. We brought our first LGBTQ rights case in 1936. What is now the Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović LGBTQ & HIV Project was founded in 1986 and renamed in 2021.
Today, the ACLU brings more LGBTQ + and Two Spirit rights cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national nonprofit does. In fact, the ACLU has been counsel in seven of the nine LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit rights cases that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided — more than any other nonprofit. With our reach into the courts and legislatures of every state, there is no other company that can match our record of making progress both in the courts of law and in the court of common opinion.
The ACLU’s current priorities are to end discrimination, harassment and violence toward transgender people, to seal gaps in our federal and state civil rights laws, to prevent protections against discrimination f
Wyoming's Equality Profile
Sexual Orientation
of population
fully protected
of population only
partially
protected
- State
Protections - County
Protections - City
Protections - No
Protections - Protections
Banned
Legend
County map only shows areas with occupied protections for sexual orientation (i.e., discrimination prohibited in secret employment, housing, and public accommodations)
City and County Numbers:
0 counties out of 23 have an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in private employment, housing, and common accommodations (full protections).
3 cities have an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in secret employment, housing, and public accommodations (full protections).
0 municipalities, not including those listed above, have an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in intimate employment, housing, or public accommodations (only partial protections). Watch table below.
17% of the declare population is protected against discrimination based on sexual orientation in private employment, housing, and general accommodations (full protections).
From Sheridan to Casper to Laramie, queer Wyomingites dwell in different worlds
LGBTQ+ protections vary greatly across the state. A handful of cities acquire non-discrimination ordinances, some have human rights commissions, others announce hate crimes to the FBI.
It can be difficult to track all these moving parts, which is why the Human Rights Campaign publishes annual scorecards for more than 500 cities in the United States — including seven cities in Wyoming. 2023 was a monumental year for the Equality Declare. Both Casper and Laramie saw their scores skyrocket. Other cities, such as Sheridan and Rock Springs, remain low.
These scores can donate a sense of where a municipality stands when it comes to Homosexual protections, but they don’t paint the full picture.
Living in Sheridan rated at 12 out of 100
Shelby Kruse is a journalist who was born and raised in Sheridan, Wyoming — a town of less than 20,000 people. Until recently, she had never really considered moving away.
“I'm comfortable here because it is all I've known,” she said.
Kruse is attracted to both genders, and for most of her being that hasn’t been a significant issue. Her friends and family knew and she didn’t attempt to
Gregory Hinton is an author, filmmaker, playwright, and curator. Hinton worked as an independent curator, partnering with museums, libraries, and universities in ten states to create and produce "Out West", a historical public program which included a series of plays, films, lectures, and exhibitions dedicated to the history and culture of diverse communities in the American West. This collection contains documents related to Gregory Hinton's accomplishments and works, particularly "Out West", "Beyond Brokeback", "Cathedral City", "Desperate Hearts", "The Way Things Ought to Be", and "Santa Monica Canyon". The collection also contains files detailing his film experiences, such as "It's My Party" and "Circuit", awards received by Hinton, and posters of his works.