Williams Institute
@williamsinstitute
A national think tank at UCLA School of Law that focuses on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. We ensure that facts, not stereotypes, inform laws, policies, and judicial decisions that affect the LGBTQ community.
Our research finds that approximately 1.8 million LGBT adults rely on Medicaid as their primary insurance, including 185,000 transgender people. Data Source: bit.ly/Medicaid_LGBT @npr.org: tinyurl.com/3u27pdzc
Our new report finds that transgender and nonbinary employees (TNB) were more likely to have felt that visible LGBTQ support from employers was fairly or very important to them than cisgender LGBQ employees. Read the full report: tinyurl.com/WorkplacePride
Anti-LGBTQI rhetoric & policies can signal an erosion in democratic norms & institutions. This year, members of Congress used our research on democratic backsliding to oppose the State Department's decision to strip LGBTQI violence and abuse from its Human Rights Reports. tinyurl.com/Williams-Impact
Williams Institute Faculty Director Cary Franklin spoke at a panel sponsored by the @hammer.ucla.edu and @law.ucla.edu's Safeguarding Democracy Project about the Supreme Court's recent ruling in the transgender sports cases. Watch the recording here: tinyurl.com/UnderTheGavel26
Today is International Nonbinary People's Day! Our research estimates that 1.2 million LGBTQ people--11% of LGBTQ adults--identify as nonbinary in the U.S. Data source: bit.ly/NonbinaryLGBTQ
We were delighted to honor Gilead Sciences with our 2026 Corporate Ally Award last month. Gilead has been a generous supporter of our work on HIV criminalization and a leader in the fight to end the HIV epidemic.
Our new study of the 2022 USTS finds that 85% of youth respondents who participated in a conversion therapy program reported considering suicide. Read the full report: tinyurl.com/Trans-Suicide
Reliable research can provide context for legal and policy debates. This year, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor cited our estimates of the transgender population during oral arguments in transgender sports cases. See more impact at tinyurl.com/Williams-Impact
Our research finds that younger LGBTQ employees ages 18 to 34 are more likely to feel it is important that their employers show visible support for LGBTQ people and issues. Read the full report: tinyurl.com/WorkplacePride
At our 25th Anniversary Gala, our Executive Director, Christy Mallory, discussed the importance of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data and why it's crucial to continue collecting it to inform LGBTQ research.
Our new analysis of the 2022 USTS finds that transgender respondents who were denied equal treatment or verbally harassed in the past year were significantly more likely to have seriously considered or attempted suicide. Read the full report: tinyurl.com/Trans-Suicide
Every milestone is a part of a larger story. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we're looking back at the research we conducted that helped shape how LGBTQ communities are understood, studied, and counted.
Our new report finds that nearly half of LGBTQ employees feel it’s important for employers to participate in Pride Month activities. But an even larger share, nearly six in 10, want employers to publicly take supportive positions on LGBTQ policy issues. Full report: tinyurl.com/WorkplacePride
Our new analysis of the 2022 USTS reveals that key risk factors for suicidal thoughts among transgender youth include running away due to their gender identity, exposure to conversion therapy, rejection from a religious community, and experiencing physical attacks. tinyurl.com/Trans-Suicide
We're looking for an experienced Assistant Director of Grant and Finance Administration to join our team! Learn more and apply today at bit.ly/CareersWI
An estimated 2,900 transgender teens, aged 13 to 17, live in Maine and could be affected by a ban on sports participation. @advocate.com: tinyurl.com/3rzc9rck
Today marks the 11th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision on marriage equality. The 2020 Census found that over half of cohabitating same-sex couples in nearly every state are married. Read the full report at tinyurl.com/CensusSnap
Our new report found that transgender and nonbinary people are roughly three times more likely than cisgender people to oppose police participation at Pride. Read the full report at tinyurl.com/PolicePride
As debates over the SAVE Act continue, our Senior Scholar of Public Policy, Jody Herman, explains the legal and policy debate surrounding voter ID laws and their potential impact on transgender voters.
Police participation at LGBTQ Pride events is rooted in a long history of conflict between LGBTQ communities and law enforcement. Our new study finds that 48% of LGBTQ adults in the U.S. support police at Pride events, while 19% oppose it and 33% are ambivalent. Full report: tinyurl.com/PolicePride
There are approximately 724,000 transgender youth in the United States whose access to gender-affirming care and privacy are threatened by federal and state efforts to obtain their sensitive medical records. @advocate.com: tinyurl.com/6t8zjh9j Data Source: bit.ly/TranspeopleUS
Among respondents to the 2022 USTS, 65% of those who have been physically attacked because they are transgender seriously considered suicide, and 20% attempted it. Read the full report: tinyurl.com/Trans-Suicide
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on two cases concerning transgender athletes' participation in sports. Our Federal Policy Director, Elana Redfield, breaks down the legal questions and the open question of what "sex" means in federal regulations.
Williams Institute's Distinguished Scholar Nanette Gartrell spoke with the Boston Globe about her 40-year longitudinal study of lesbian families, which found that the children's mental health & well-being were the same as or better than those of their peers. @BostonGlobe.com: tinyurl.com/3m2speab
One-third of the transgender parents we surveyed indicated that they planned to have fewer children because of Trump's re-election and presidency. Full report available here: tinyurl.com/Trans-Parent-Challenges
Join us in congratulating Harvard Law Professor Bill Rubenstein, co-founder of the Williams Institute, for receiving the 2026 Visionary Award at our 25th Anniversary Gala. Founding Executive Director, Brad Sears, our Distinguished Senior Scholar of Law and Policy, presented the award.
Our Generations Study found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual Republicans were less likely than their Democratic counterparts to feel connected to the LGBT community or view that connection positively. Read the full report at bit.ly/SODemsReps
About four in 10 transgender parents we surveyed worried they might be reported to child welfare agencies because of their gender identity. Nearly one-third feared that family members would report them. Read the full report at tinyurl.com/Trans-Parent-Challenges
As we celebrate 25 years, we also honor all of the people, partnerships, and supporters that make our work possible.
