The incoming administration has pledged to roll back numerous transgender rights and limit federal recognition of gender identities. As a result, many transgender people are exploring ways to protect themselves, including updating identification documents—such as passports and driver's licenses—to accurately reflect their names and genders. 

Our September 2024 study found that nearly half (49%) of transgender adults who participated in the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey did not have identification that displayed their correct name. Additionally, 54% lacked identification that represented their correct gender, and 58% did not possess any form of ID that accurately reflected both their name and gender.

Transgender young people, people of color, students, and those with disabilities or low incomes are more likely to not have accurate identification.

Join us today at noon PT for a discussion on how the election results could impact democracy and LGBTQ rights. If you didn't RSVP, you can access the webinar livestream on YouTube.

Indiana has six laws that criminalize people living with HIV that span both the public health and criminal codes. Our new report evaluates Indiana's HIV criminalization laws and finds that most of them do not account for decades of advances in HIV science. In addition, none of Indiana’s laws require actual HIV transmission or the intent to transmit HIV. The laws also criminalize conduct that cannot transmit HIV, such as spitting.

The Williams Institute hosts the premier national moot court competition dedicated exclusively to the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity law. The competition provides law school students across the country an opportunity to write an appellate brief on a current legal topic and to argue the case before a panel of judges.

The competition will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at UCLA School of Law. 

The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is an academic research institute dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.