Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Louisiana may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.

Discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited in employment as a result of Bostock v. Clayton County, but not in the areas of housing, health care, education, credit or public accommodations.

A 2017 opinion poll from the Public Religion Research Institute showed that 63% of Louisiana residents supported anti-discrimination legislation protecting LGBTQ people.

The code contained a sodomy provision with the common-law definition and a mandatory penalty of life imprisonment at hard labor, whether heterosexual or homosexual.

In 1942, a comprehensive criminal code revision was passed, reducing the maximum penalty for sodomy to five years' imprisonment, adding a fine of 2,000 dollars and making the hard labor provision optional.

[4] In 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the part of the statute that criminalized adult consensual anal and oral sex.

In 2013, law enforcement officers in East Baton Rouge Parish arrested men who had engaged in sexual activity banned by the statute.

Initially, ten Republican lawmakers stated their opposition to the anti-bestiality bill, which was also opposed by conservative groups, including the Louisiana Family Forum.

In state court in Costanza v. Caldwell, the plaintiffs won initially, but the ruling was stayed pending appeal, which was left unresolved after oral argument was heard on January 29, 2015.

[17] Louisiana has successfully defended in federal court its refusal to amend the birth certificate of a child born in Louisiana and adopted in New York by a married same-sex couple who sought to have a new certificate issued with their names as parents, as is standard practice for Louisiana-born children adopted by opposite-sex married couples.

[19] Louisiana birth certificates still use gender-specific terms when referring to parents; however, the Obergefell decision provides equal access to all marriage-related rights for same-sex spouses, reaffirmed by the court in Pavan v. Smith in June 2017.

[23] On February 17, 1992, Governor Edwin Edwards issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

On April 28, 2016, the Senate Labor Committee approved in a 4–3 vote a bill that would have banned employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The cities of New Orleans,[34] and Shreveport[35][36] prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Office of Motor Vehicles requires applicants to submit a statement signed by a physician confirming that they have undergone successful sex reassignment surgery.

[44] In July 2023, the Legislature overridden the Governor veto - allowing just the bill on explicitly banning gender-affirming healthcare to minors to go into effect formally.

[45] Surgery, puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy and other transition-related healthcare for transgender people are not covered by health insurance or state Medicaid policies.

[47][48][49][50][51] In June 2017, the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill, introduced by Senator Patrick Connick, to remove the words "opposite-sex" from the domestic violence statutes.

The bill, which passed 54–42 in the House and 25–13 in the Senate, was signed into law by Governor John Bel Edwards and went into full effect on August 1, 2017.

[57] Recent opinion polls have shown that support for LGBTQ people in the U.S. state of Louisiana is increasing significantly and opposition is decreasing.

A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll found that 48% of Louisianans supported same-sex marriage, while 44% were opposed and 8% were undecided.

[58] A 2022 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll found that 62% of Louisiana residents supported same-sex marriage, while 36% were opposed and 2% were unsure.