Massachusetts Among States Offering The Most Rights To Gays

In the wake of North Carolina's May 8 decision to amend its Constitution to ban same sex unions, Britain's The Guardian created a model looking at gay rights in each state.

Just a day after North Carolina's vote, President Barack Obama announced support for same-sex marriage in an interview with ABC. This comes a few days after Vice President Joe Biden made similar comments on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The Guardian's piece is a snapshot of gay rights in the States. According to the graphic, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, along with Washington state, Iowa and the District of Columbia, have the most rights afforded to gays.

Massachusetts allows:

• same sex marriage;
• hospital visitation by same sex partners or spouses;
• gays to adopt, either singly or as a couple.

Massachusetts prohibits:

• employment discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation;
• housing discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation;
• harassment in schools based on gender identity or sexual orientation

Also, Massachusetts' hate crime laws include crimes committed based on gender identity or sexual orientation.