LGBTQ+ rights
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
DADT repeal 2010. DOMA withdrawal of defense (2011), struck down in Windsor (2013). Marriage equality 'evolution' (May 2012) — first sitting president to support. Obergefell (2015). Federal LGBTQ employment protections expanded.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Obama term spanned DADT repeal (2010), DOMA defense withdrawal (2011), presidential support for marriage equality (2012), Windsor decision (2013), and Obergefell decision (2015) — era-defining LGBTQ rights advances.
congress.gov ↗
Respect for Marriage Act 2022 codified marriage equality federally. Restored trans military service. Federal trans-rights protections. Anti-LGBTQ state legislation surge that federal action couldn't fully counter.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Respect for Marriage Act codified federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages against potential SCOTUS reversal; reversed Trump-era trans military ban.
congress.gov ↗
Civil Service Commission softened anti-LGBTQ employment rules (1975-1980). Met with gay rights leaders (first president to do so officially). EO 10450 still formally in effect.
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- good·Tier 2·Primary document·Unverified
Carter's CSC further softened federal employment discrimination against LGBTQ workers; held first official White House meeting with gay rights leaders.
Civil Service Commission Federal Personnel Manual revisions; Carter-NGTF meeting 1977
Era E3.1 — not a federal policy domain. Score N/A; reported as 0/0 per spec convention.
EO 10450 continued. Era-typical hostility. Stonewall (1969) just after LBJ term.
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- harm·Tier 2·Primary document·Unverified
Federal anti-LGBTQ employment policy continued throughout LBJ term.
EO 10450 continuation 1963-1969
EO 10450 still in force. Era-typical neglect. Some Civil Service Commission guidance softening.
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- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Civil Service Commission softened EO 10450 enforcement somewhat in mid-1970s but federal LGBTQ employment ban remained formally in effect.
Civil Service Commission policy revisions 1975 (Norton v. Macy precedent integration)
EO 10450 still in force throughout Nixon years. Era-typical hostility. Stonewall (1969) and rising gay rights movement received no federal support.
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- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Federal anti-LGBTQ employment discrimination policy continued throughout Nixon years with no administration action toward reform.
EO 10450 continuation; Stonewall riots June 1969
Supported Federal Marriage Amendment (2004) — failed. Opposed marriage equality. DOMA continued. DADT continued. PEPFAR helped global LGBTQ AIDS response.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
GW Bush supported Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage as one man-one woman (failed Senate 2004, 2006); domestic LGBTQ policy was anti-equality.
congress.gov ↗
HIV/AIDS response improved over Reagan but limited. EO 10450 still in force. No federal LGBTQ protections.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Ryan White CARE Act provided federal funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and services; bipartisan response after Reagan-era inaction.
congress.gov ↗
EO 10450 federal employment ban continued. Era-typical hostility.
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- harm·Tier 2·Primary document·Unverified
Federal anti-LGBTQ employment policy continued throughout Kennedy term with no reform action.
EO 10450 continued operation
Don't Ask Don't Tell (1993) replaced outright ban but barred openly gay service. Defense of Marriage Act 1996 federalized opposite-sex marriage definition. EO 13087 (1998) extended federal civilian employment protections (good). Calibration v1.1 revision: harm 7→8 per cross-president-rankings.md — signing both DADT and DOMA worse than GW Bush record.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Clinton signed DADT (1993) and DOMA (1996); these federal anti-LGBTQ laws were later repealed (DADT in 2010) and ruled unconstitutional (DOMA in Windsor 2013). EO 13087 (1998) extended federal civilian protections.
congress.gov ↗
Lavender Scare (1947-1953) — federal employment purges of suspected gay employees, paralleling McCarthyism. Truman's loyalty program (EO 9835) and State Department actions led to thousands of LGBTQ federal workers fired.
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- harm·Tier 1·Academic·Unverified
Federal employment purges under Truman's loyalty program targeted suspected gay employees alongside suspected communists; an estimated 5,000-10,000 federal workers were fired or forced to resign on sexuality grounds during 1947-1953.
Johnson, 'The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government' (2004)
Trans military service ban (2017, 2018). Federal LGBTQ employment protections rolled back. Title IX trans protections withdrawn. Healthcare rule allowing discrimination. Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) decision favorable but ruled against administration position.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Trump T1 announced trans military service ban via Twitter (subsequently enforced); rolled back federal contractor LGBTQ protections and healthcare anti-discrimination rules; Bostock SCOTUS ruling ruled against administration but established Title VII LGBTQ protections.
Trump trans military ban Twitter announcement July 26, 2017; Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. ___ (2020)
Two-sex EO (EO 14168). Trans military ban revived. Federal trans-rights protections eliminated. State-level anti-trans legislation backed federally. Defining anti-LGBTQ administration.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Trump T2 EO 14168 (Jan 20, 2025) established federal recognition of only two sexes; revived trans military ban; eliminated federal trans-rights protections — most anti-LGBTQ administration since federal LGBTQ-rights framework began.
archives.gov ↗
Executive Order 10450 (April 1953) formalized federal employment ban on 'sexual perverts' — codified Lavender Scare logic that persisted until 1995. Continued purges of gay federal employees.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
EO 10450 explicitly enumerated 'sexual perversion' as grounds for federal employment denial; this federal anti-LGBTQ employment policy persisted continuously until rescinded by EO 12968 in 1995.
archives.gov ↗
Did not publicly mention AIDS until September 1985, four years after first cases identified. By his first public mention, 12,000+ Americans had already died of AIDS. Surgeon General Koop's prevention report (1986) opposed by administration. Cumulative AIDS deaths during Reagan presidency: ~60,000+. Federal LGBTQ employment ban (EO 10450) continued.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Reagan did not publicly address AIDS until September 1985 (~4.5 years after first CDC reports and 12,000+ deaths); cumulative US AIDS deaths during his term reached approximately 60,000 with the federal response systematically delayed.
cdc.gov ↗