LGBT rights in Nevada

Among the Native Americans, perceptions towards gender and sexuality were very different to that of the Western world. The Northern Paiute people, for instance, recognize male-bodied individuals who act, behave and live as women, known as tüdayapi. Such individuals are known as tüwasawuts among the Southern Paiute.

Nevada adopted a criminal code in 1861 establishing a sentence of five years' to life imprisonment for sodomy. In 1912, the Supreme Court of Nevada held that fellatio constituted a criminal offense. As was the case for such laws around the United States, Nevada's sodomy law criminalized both heterosexual and homosexual oral sex and anal intercourse. It did not, however, criminalize lesbian acts. In 1951, the minimum penalty of sodomy was reduced to one year imprisonment, but the maximum penalty of life imprisonment was retained. This was changed again in 1967 when it was reduced to one to six years. Furthermore, under a 1961 sex offender registration law, those convicted of sodomy had to register with the local sheriff or chief of police and report any change in address. Over the years, the courts convicted multiple people of sodomy, almost consistently upheld by higher courts, and a challenge to the sodomy law on the grounds of vagueness and unconstitutionality was rejected in 1969. In 1973, 1976 and 1978, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that cunnilingus, masturbation in front of a witness and licking a penis were violations of the sodomy statute.[1]

In 1977, the Nevada Legislature amended the state's sodomy law, redefining the act as "anal intercourse, cunnilingus or fellatio between consenting adults of the same sex", thus legalizing heterosexual activity but also making sexual activity between women illegal for the first time in Nevada's history. The penalty of one to six years' imprisonment remained.[1]

Nevada decriminalized sodomy in 1993, ten years before the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas struck down laws that criminalized private consensual sexual activity. Senator Lori Lipman Brown introduced Senate Bill 466 on May 13, 1993 to decriminalize what the statutes called "infamous crime against nature". At hearings, two doctors linked repealing the sodomy laws with a public health measure to combat the stigma and spread of HIV. Other supporters included Reno Rabbi Myra Soifer, former senators Helen Foley and Jean Ford, gay rights advocate Lee Plotkin, and progressive activist Bob Fulkerson. Opponents included Janine Hansen of the Nevada Eagle Forum and Independent American Party of Nevada and Lynn Chapman who said that repealing the sodomy laws would increase the spread of HIV/AIDS and would "open the floodgate ... in legalizing, condoning and recognizing homosexuality to be on an equal footing with heterosexuality" and lead to "such things as homosexual marriage and adoption of children."[2] In the course of the legislative process, the words "infamous crime against nature" were replaced by "anal intercourse, cunnilingus or fellatio in public".[3] Other amendments, including one to require sex education in schools to provide "factual information regarding the dangers of such activities" of "a homosexual lifestyle or the infamous crime against nature" were defeated.[4][5] Democratic Governor Bob Miller signed the legislation on June 16, 1993 and it went into effect on October 1, 1993. However, the age of consent for same-sex sexual activity was unequal and set 2 years higher at 18. It was finally equalized at 16 in line with heterosexuals 20 years later on October 1, 2013.[6][7]

Nevada voters approved Question 2, an amendment to the Constitution of Nevada that banned same-sex marriage, by 69.6% in 2000 and 67.1% in 2002.[lower-alpha 1]

On May 21, 2009, the Nevada Legislature passed the Domestic Partnership Responsibilities Act 2009 to grant both opposite-sex and same-sex couples many of the responsibilities, obligations, rights, entitlements and benefits of marriage under the designation "domestic partnership" rather than "marriage". Governor Jim Gibbons vetoed the legislation, saying he did not personally oppose rights for domestic partners but felt he needed to respect the voters' wishes on the question.[8] On May 30 and 31, both the Assembly and Senate overrode his veto.[9] The law went into effect on October 1, 2009. It exempted both private and public employers from having to provide medical coverage for the domestic partners of their employees even if they did so for their employees' married spouses.[10] Whether other jurisdictions will recognize a Nevada domestic partnership is uncertain, as are some parental rights normally held by married couples.[11] Even in Arizona, the status of domestic partner can be misunderstood and is not always recognized as the equivalent of marriage.[12]

On April 10, 2012, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit, Sevcik v. Sandoval, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on behalf of eight same-sex couples, claiming that Nevada's categorization of same-sex domestic partnerships consigns same-sex couples to "a lesser, second-class status" and constitutes a violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.[13][14] Chief Judge Robert Jones ruled on November 29 that Nevada's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. Lambda Legal said it would appeal the decision.[15] On October 7, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Question 2, explicitly reversing Judge Robert Jones' district court ruling, thus making same-sex marriages legal.[16]

Since July 1, 2017, Nevada's marriage statute incorporates gender-neutral language, thereby explicitly recognizing same-sex marriage in state law.[17] Efforts to amend the state Constitution to remove the 2002 language banning same-sex marriage will be on the Nevada ballot in November 2020.[18][19][20][21]

During the 1999 legislative session, the Nevada Legislature added prohibition of discrimination based on a person's actual or perceived sexual orientation in public and private employment and public accommodations to state law. In the 2011 legislative session, Governor Brian Sandoval approved and signed into law three bills, A.B. 211, S.B. 331, and S.B. 368 which prohibit discrimination in areas of employment, housing and public accommodation on the basis of "gender identity or expression." S.B. 331 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at public accommodations, and S.B. 368 prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. All three laws took effect on October 1, 2011.[22][23]

In May 2015, an anti-bullying bill, SB 504, passed the Nevada Legislature.[24] Governor Brian Sandoval signed the bill into law days later.[25] The bill went into full effect on July 1, 2015.[26][27] It explicitly includes "actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability of a person, sex or any other distinguishing characteristic or background of a person" as protected grounds. The law directs the Department of Education to prescribe policies for schools to address bullying and cyberbullying, procedures for reporting and investigating, requirements for parent notification and provisions to train teachers and staff to properly address bullying.

In May 2017, the Nevada Legislature passed a bill adding "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression" throughout the rest of Nevada statutes, alongside race, disability, creed, sex, religion, marital status, domestic partnership status, age, etc. The law went into effect on July 1, 2017.[28]

Nevada law provides additional penalties for the commission of a crime because of certain actual or perceived characteristics of the victim. In 2001, Nevada amended its hate crime law to include sexual orientation, without addressing gender identity or expression.[29] In 2011, Senator David Parks introduced S.B. 180 to add "gender identity or expression" to Nevada's hate crime law. One Democrat, John Lee, voted with the Republicans and the bill failed.[30] In 2013, S.B. 139, which would add "gender identity or expression" to Nevada's hate crime law, was introduced by a bipartisan group and passed the Senate on a vote of 20-1. Senator Joe Hardy, the only vote against the legislation, later said that he should have voted in favor after talking with Senator Pat Spearman, the legislature's first out person of color, a pastor and military veteran.[31] The legislation passed the Assembly on a vote of 30-11 on May 14.[32] Governor Brian Sandoval signed the legislation on May 21, 2013.[33] The new law took effect on October 1, 2013.[34]

Same-sex relationships have not been a legal barrier to adoption or parenting in the state, though only since 2017 has state law reflected that same-sex couples have the same parental rights as heterosexual couples.[17]

Lesbian couples are allowed to access assisted reproduction services, such as in vitro fertilisation.[35] State law recognizes the non-genetic, non-gestational mother as a legal parent to a child born via donor insemination, irrespective of the marital status of the parents.[36] In addition, gestational surrogacy arrangements for gay male couples are permitted and recognized in Nevada.[37]

In May 2019, the Nevada Legislature passed a bill, by a vote of 36-3 in the House and 19-2 in the Senate, to repeal the gay panic defense. On May 14, Governor Steve Sisolak signed the bill into law, and it went into effect on October 1, 2019.[38] Nevada joined several other states in doing so, including California and Illinois.[39][40]

In April 2017, the Nevada Senate passed a bill to ban conversion therapy on minors, by a vote of 15 to 5.[41][42] The bill was voted on by the Nevada House of Representatives on May 9, where it passed 31-8.[43] The Nevada Senate concurred to the amended version on the same day. The bill was signed by Governor Brian Sandoval on May 17,[44][45] and went into effect on January 1, 2018.

In May 2019, the Nevada Legislature passed a bill to establish a HIV taskforce in Nevada and other related HIV legal reforms. The legislation passed the House by 37 votes to 3, and the Senate by 21 votes to 0. The Governor signed the bill into law and it went into effect immediately.[46]

Since 2016, the Nevada Vital Records will issue a new birth certificate with a corrected gender marked upon receipt of two affidavits reflecting an individual's preferred gender.[47] Sex reassignment surgery is not required to change gender on birth certificates.[48] In May 2017, legislation unanimously passed the Nevada Legislature to abolish the 1988 requirement for transgender people to publish their names in newspapers before they can undergo legal changes of sex on government documents.[49]

On June 22, 2017, Governor Sandoval vetoed a bill requiring insurance companies in Nevada to cover all sex reassignment surgery costs, among other things.[50][51] In March 2018, the state's Medicaid agency announced it would cover costs related to sex reassignment surgeries for transgender individuals. In addition, under state law, health insurance providers are banned from discriminating against transgender patients.[52]

Since April 2019, the Department of Motor Vehicles has provided a "third gender" designation (known as "X") on driver's licenses, birth certificates and state ID cards.[53]

A July 2011 Public Policy Polling survey found that a plurality of voters in the state supported same-sex marriage. 45% of Nevada voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 44% thought it should be illegal and 11% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 77% of Nevada voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 39% supporting same-sex marriage, 38% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 22% favoring no legal recognition and 2% not sure.[54]

An August 2012 Public Policy Polling survey found that a plurality of voters in the state supported same-sex marriage. 47% of Nevada voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 42% thought it should be illegal and 11% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 80% of Nevada voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 40% supporting same-sex marriage, 40% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 17% favoring no legal recognition and 2% not sure.[55]

A February 2013 poll found majority support for same-sex marriage among Nevada voters. The Retail Association of Nevada poll found that 54% were in favor of it, 43% were opposed, and 3% had no opinion on the matter.[56]

A September 2013 Retail Association of Nevada poll found that 57% of Nevada voters favored same-sex marriage, while 36% were opposed. 6% were unsure.[57]

A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute poll found that 70% of Nevada residents supported same-sex marriage, while 23% were opposed and 7% were unsure.[58]

• Politics of Nevada
• LGBT rights in the United States
• Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States
• Same-sex marriage in Nevada