Transgender Non-Discrimination Policy Dataset

This was my first project at the Institute of Public Policy and Social Research. I constructed a state-year panel dataset capturing transgender non-discrimination policies across employment, housing, education, insurance, public accommodations, and state employment.

In addition, the dataset includes measures of anti-equality policies, such as Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, restrictions on municipal non-discrimination protections, and legal protections for medical professionals who decline to provide services to LGBTQ+ individuals. The years range from 2000 to 2024.

The data were compiled from the Human Rights Campaign’s state equality index and the Movement Advancement Project policy maps. For each state-year, I used these indexes to code whether the specific policies listed above were present or absent.

After constructing the dataset, I wrote a blog post for IPPSR’s Policy Wonk. It focuses on the importance of these non-discrimination laws in the face of rising anti-trans rhetoric.

If you are interested in this dataset or would like to see the code I used to create the figures, my repository for this project can be found here.