Legal Protections Beyond Marriage: Housing, Employment, and Public Accommodations for LGBTQ+ People

Marriage equality doesn’t protect you from being kicked out of your apartment, fired from your job, or turned away from a restaurant. That’s the hard truth in 2025. Even if you’re legally married, your rights in daily life aren’t guaranteed - and they’re getting weaker every year.

Marriage Doesn’t Mean Protection

The Respect for Marriage Act of 2022 made federal recognition of same-sex marriages official. But it didn’t touch housing, jobs, or access to public spaces. You can be married in Massachusetts and still get denied an apartment in Tennessee because the landlord says your relationship goes against their beliefs. You can have a wedding license and still be fired for being transgender in Georgia. Marriage gives you tax benefits and hospital visitation rights - but it doesn’t stop a landlord from saying, “We don’t rent to same-sex couples,” or a manager from telling you, “We don’t serve people like you.”

Legal experts at TSA Hill Law say it plainly: marriage is not a shield. It doesn’t override state laws that let businesses, employers, or landlords discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In fact, in states without explicit protections, your marriage certificate might not even be recognized - and that puts your whole family at risk.

Housing: Even Married Couples Get Evicted

In 2025, LGBTQ+ people still face housing discrimination at alarming rates. According to the ACLU’s survey of 2,500 people across 15 states, 68% of LGBTQ+ individuals reported being denied housing, charged higher rent, or pressured to leave because of who they are. This isn’t just about single people - it’s about couples, parents, and families.

One case from Maryland involved a married same-sex couple who were approved for an apartment, then told two days before move-in that the landlord had changed his mind. He cited his religious beliefs. They had proof of income, perfect credit, and a legal marriage certificate. None of it mattered. The landlord didn’t break any federal law - because there’s no federal law that says landlords can’t refuse to rent to LGBTQ+ people.

States like Massachusetts have strong protections. But 32 states either have no laws at all or have laws that are so weak they’re useless. And now, new bills are making it worse. Seven states passed “Religious Exemption” laws in 2025 that allow landlords to refuse housing to LGBTQ+ tenants. One of them, in Idaho, even lets property managers ask applicants about their “moral values” during screening.

Transgender people are hit hardest. After Executive Order 14168 banned federal agencies from collecting data on gender identity, housing applications started requiring “sex assigned at birth.” That means trans people are being outed before they even apply - and often rejected outright.

Employment: Getting Fired for Who You Are

You might think being fired for being LGBTQ+ is illegal. It’s not - not everywhere. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that Title VII protects employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But that ruling doesn’t stop employers from finding loopholes.

Since January 2025, Lambda Legal has seen a 37% increase in employment discrimination cases. Most of them come from states that passed religious exemption laws. A nurse in Oklahoma was fired after posting a photo of her wife at a Pride parade. Her employer said her public expression of identity violated their “religious mission.” A transgender man in Alabama was told his “gender identity was incompatible with the company culture” - even though he’d been promoted twice.

Project 2025 is making this worse. The conservative policy blueprint calls for removing “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from every federal rule, contract, and grant. That means government contractors - hospitals, schools, nonprofits - could legally fire LGBTQ+ employees without consequence. And it’s already happening. Executive Order 14151 began reviewing federal contracts with companies that support LGBTQ+ rights. Some lost millions in funding overnight.

Even in states with protections, enforcement is weak. The EEOC doesn’t have the staff to investigate every claim. Most people don’t have the money or time to sue. So they stay quiet. They take the job. They keep their head down.

Public Accommodations: Denied Service in Plain Sight

You walk into a restaurant, a hotel, a pharmacy - and you’re told, “We don’t serve your kind.” That’s not just rude. It’s illegal in some places. But not in most.

Lambda Legal is currently fighting cases where businesses claim their “free speech” or “religious freedom” lets them refuse service to same-sex couples. A wedding photographer in Florida turned down a gay couple, saying he didn’t want to “celebrate sin.” A hotel in Texas refused to book a room for a lesbian couple, claiming it would “violate our values.” Courts in some states are letting them get away with it.

And it’s not just about weddings. A trans woman in Tennessee was denied a haircut because the stylist said he “only cuts men’s hair.” A gay couple in Ohio was turned away from a family-owned diner because the owner said he didn’t “support lifestyles that go against the Bible.” These aren’t rare incidents. They’re happening every day.

Twenty-two states have passed laws that restrict healthcare access for LGBTQ+ people - and those laws often include language that lets clinics refuse to treat trans patients. That means going to the ER for a heart attack could mean being turned away because you’re trans. That’s not healthcare. That’s discrimination dressed up as policy.

What You Can Do - Right Now

Waiting for the law to catch up isn’t safe. You need to protect yourself now - even if you’re married.

• Write a will that names your partner as heir. Without it, your family could be locked out of your assets.
• Set up a healthcare power of attorney. Marriage doesn’t automatically give your spouse the right to make medical decisions. You need a signed document.
• Get a financial power of attorney. This lets your partner pay bills, manage accounts, or access your bank if you’re incapacitated.
• Establish a living trust. It avoids probate - a slow, public process where your relationship could be challenged.
• Complete a second-parent adoption. Even if you’re on the birth certificate, a biological connection doesn’t guarantee legal parent status. Adoption locks in your rights.
• Know your state’s laws. If you live in a state without protections, assume you’re vulnerable. Don’t rely on federal law.

TSA Hill Law says this: “If you’re LGBTQ+, your marriage is a start - not a finish.” You need layers of legal protection. One document isn’t enough. You need a whole system.

The Bigger Picture: What’s Coming Next

The threat isn’t slowing down. In 2025 alone, 541 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across 41 states. Twelve states pushed “Re-Definition of Sex” bills that define “man” and “woman” only by reproductive organs - erasing nonbinary and trans people from legal recognition. That affects everything: bathrooms, sports, IDs, housing applications, job forms.

Project 2025 isn’t just a plan. It’s being implemented. The Gender Policy Council was dissolved. Data on gender identity was erased from federal forms. Federal agencies are being ordered to stop protecting LGBTQ+ people in hiring, contracting, and services.

The Southern Baptist Convention voted in June 2025 to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges - the 2015 case that legalized same-sex marriage. Nine states have already passed resolutions urging the Supreme Court to do the same. If that happens, marriage protections vanish. And with them, the last legal argument many courts use to protect LGBTQ+ people in housing, employment, and public spaces.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about survival. You can’t vote your way out of this. You can’t hope your employer will be kind. You have to build your own legal safety net - before it’s too late.

Where to Get Help

You don’t have to do this alone.

• Lambda Legal offers free legal help for discrimination cases in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
• ACLU’s LGBTQ+ Project tracks state laws and provides templates for legal documents like powers of attorney.
• Northwest Center for Legal Rights gives free guidance on family law, adoption, and housing rights for LGBTQ+ people.
• TSA Hill Law provides state-specific advice on securing legal protections beyond marriage.

Don’t wait for a law to save you. Build your own protection - today.