We've come a long way in advancing LGBTQ rights since the first Pride march was held in New York City in 1970, from the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in 2010 and the achievement of marriage equality via the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, to last summer's high court decision outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace.

Then there's the Education Department's recent guidance that extends Title IX protections to gay and transgender students in an effort to protect them from discrimination at school.

Yet there remain more battles to win to make the U.S. an inclusive and welcoming country for all. If you're part of the queer community, many of your legal protections still largely depend on where you live.

In 27 states, for example, it's not illegal to discriminate against queer people in areas like housing. That's around 165 million Americans who could be discriminated against in various ways, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Given the patchwork of protections, it can be confusing to know what safeguards are in place and where. The Movement Advancement Project (MAP), which conducts research to push forward policy that is inclusive of all people, is addressing this problem. Since 2007, the nonprofit think tank has published a series of Equality Maps to illustrate which laws or policies within the U.S. and its territories protect or harm the LGBTQ community. MAP tracks "nearly 40 LGBTQ-related laws and policies in all 50 states, D.C., and the five U.S. territories," according to its website. This includes laws that hold up the rights of queer people or dismantles them, such as bans on transgender kids playing school sports on the team that aligns with their gender identity.

Read the full article about achieving LGBTQ+ equality by Siobhan Neela-Stock at Mashable.