At this moment in the United States of America, it is becoming a better place for the LGBTQ community. New Acts are being passed that favor this population at risk in the United States. So the question is “How do the current policies of the US government impact populations at risk?”, the research shows that the government policies are impacting this population in a favorable way. The most known government policy that is favorable for this community is when same-sex marriage was made legal in all 50 states. It made a big impact to everyone in the United States and to the world, especially because it was great news to many. There is also many other Acts that were passed that benefit the LGBTQ community and are very significant.

There is the Customer Non-Discrimination Act, Equality Act, Fair and Equal Housing Act, Global Respect Act, Juror Non-Discrimination Act/ Jury ACCESS Act, Transgender Military Service, and many more. All these government policies that are being passed are impacting the LGBTQ  in a very positive way. History of Same-Sex Marriage The first time a same-sex couple had attempted applying for a marriage license was in the year of 1970, May 18th. The couple were two men named John Baker and James Michael McCullon. Sadly, the application was denied by the district court clerk Gerald Nelson, and soon the couple sued the clerk because there was no mention in their state law that disregarded marriage between same-sex couples. Although the coupled tried to sue Nelson, the Supreme Court had agreed with the Nelson and rebuffed the couples license marriage again.

After a decade and a few years, on October 10th, 1987 there was a huge same-sex wedding ceremony in Washington DC. In the national mall of Washington DC, 7,000 people have witnessed the marriage of nearly 2,000 same-sex couples. This mass wedding is now known as “The Wedding” in the National Mall of Washington DC. Within the next decade, the New York State of Appeals had finally declared that a same-sex couple who had been living with each other for at least 10 years can finally be called a family. 14 years after the New York of Appeals ruled that a same-sex couple can be named a family, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage in 2003. After Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, many more states started following them. In 2012, Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states with a popular vote to legalize same-sex marriage. By 2014, 35 states legalized same-sex marriage and a year later on June 26th, 2015 same-sex marriage was legal in all 50 states.

All these changes throughout the years have made a big social change for the LGBTQ community. Especially because there were studies that found that same-sex couples that were not married, because it was illegal, were more “distressed” than couples that were married. A less distressed person equals a healthier person with a healthy life, a healthy life is what we all want. Fair and Equal Housing Act The Fair and Equal housing act is an act that protects the LGBTQ community from being discriminated in housing. The reason for this being a very favorable act to the LGBTQ community is because there was an act that showed that same-sex couples would get discriminated in metropolitan areas. According to the Human Rights campaign, there was also another study that showed that 16% of couples that were heterosexual were more favored than couples that were the same sex. Also a survey that was taken by transgenders in 2015 showed that 25% of the transgenders said that they have been discriminated in housing because of their gender identity.

The Fair and Equal housing act does not only protect the LGBTQ community but also every other person. This act was made to protect every person from being discriminated because of their color, sexual orientation, religion, etc.. As of now, only 20 states have the act that prohibits discrimination for both sexual orientation and gender identity and two states only prohibits only sexual orientation. Customer Non-Discrimination ActThe customer non-discrimination act is modifying the Civil Rights Act to help protect people from being discriminated because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender in public places. The reason why this act is important is because, according Human Rights Campaign, there is a strong effect from enforcing this acts. Less people are being discriminated which is why if they include the LGBTQ community into the act there will be a lower percentage of people being discriminated because of who they are. Global Respect Act This Act is an act that prohibits people entering the United States who have in any way violated the LGBTQ rights.

This act will help prevent people around the world from coming to the United States and discriminating the LGBTQ community. There is enough discrimination in the United States and a way to help stop that is not adding more discriminators. In order for this to work it requires for the Executive Branch to send Congress a list of foreign people who have ever been involved with any inhumane crimes. The people on the list are then either denied or revoked their visas. Student Non-Discrimination Act The Student Non-Discrimination Act consists of prohibiting schools from discriminating students because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. If someone violates this act, they will be taken to a court hearing. This can make a very big difference to the LGBTQ especially the youth community because LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to experience harassment/bullying because of their sexual orientation/gender identity.

 They are also twice as likely to be physically attacked because of who they are or perceived they are. With this act being passed, it will with make going to school less traumatizing for the youth. Not being discriminated at school is so important because discrimination in school can lead to students dropping out, academic underachievement, and bad attendance in school. The youth is the future of our country and if they can not have a safe school environment, how can we expect them to be great in the future. Conclusion Therefore, current US government policies impacts the population at risk, specifically the LGBTQ community, in a positive way. The US government has a positive impact on the LGBTQ community because there are many new and important acts the government is passing.

For example, the Student Non-Discrimination Act. The Student Non-Discrimination has a good impact towards this population at risk because it helps protect the youth from being harassed and bullied in their schools for who they are. The most recent government policy that had a big impact in the whole country is when same-sex marriage became legal.

On June 26th, 2015 all 50 states had legalized same-sex marriage, which to this population at risk had a very positive impact. The impact was so great to this community because they can finally be able to marry the person they love, and it is even healthy for them to be able to legally be married to their partner. All these government policies impact the LGBTQ in a positive way and help reduce the discrimination many populations at risk go through.