28 US states still lack basic equality for LGBT people, State Equality Index says.

28 US states are still lacking in basic equality for LGBT people, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s State Equality Index. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation and the Equality Federation Institute released the annual index on Thursday (January 31) detailing state-level progress on LGBT+ rights. The rankings show significant progress has been made towards LGBT+ equality at the state level in the past year. The number of states given the highest rating increased from 13 to 16, thanks to bolstered protections in Delaware, New Jersey and New Mexico. However, a total of 28 states are in the lowest-rated category, found to be lacking “basic equality” for LGBT+ people.