Top 10 LGBT Employment-Friendly States

This past summer the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act and in effect paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. But what about gay rights in the workplace? It's still legal to be fired for being openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in 29 states. Activists, however, are pushing for the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would protect all LGBT workers from discrimination in hiring, firing and other employment matters on the basis of sexual orientation.

With no national protection on the books, some states and cities have simply done more than others to protect LGBT workers. And the human resources company XpertHR has just compiled a list of the Top 10 LGBT-Employment Friendly States. The analysis was based on a series of criteria, including the state's existing legal framework and its history of protecting LGBT workers.

"It's not very surprising which states are on the list," the author of the study and XpertHR's legal editor Beth Zoller told AOL Jobs in an interview. "It's states that are on the coasts and that vote Democratic," she added. Indeed, six of the top ten states are from the Northeast, which is where the modern gay rights revolution began with the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Bar in New York City. Increasingly, however, cities in traditionally conservative regions like in Kentucky are also passing ordinances protecting LGBT Americans. "The tide is changing," Zoller said.

See below for the top 10.