In last week’s State of the Union Address, President Obama became the first President to discuss the rights of bisexual and transgender Americans.

Bisexuality refers to attraction towards both men and women, while being transgender refers to identifying as a gender that does not correspond with one’s biological sex.

This is based on the concept that sex and gender are not synonymous – that sex merely refers to one’s biological sex status while gender refers to one’s identity as a man, woman, or any gender in between.

Although the remark was brief, the magnitude of this commentary should not be understated.  According to Gary J. Gates of the Williams Institute in the University of California School of Law, as of April 2011, “3.5% of adults identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender” (How Many People are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender?).

He used numerous surveys, including the findings from the National Survey of Family Growth 2006-2008, the General Social Survey 2008, and the California Health Interview Survey 2009. According to these findings, “there are approximately 9 million LGBT Americans” (How Many People are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender?).

That’s more than the state of New Jersey, which claimed 8,899,339 people in the 2013 census, as well as Virginia (8,260,405), Massachusetts (6,692,824), Connecticut (3,596,080), Maine (1,328,302), New Hampshire (1,323,459), Rhode Island (1,051,511), Alaska (735,132) or Vermont (582,658) (U.S. Census Bureau 2013).

According to Saint Anselm College enrollment in 2013 (1,923), there are roughly 4,680x more members of the LGBT community in the United States than there are currently students at this institution.

Although members of the LGBT community make up a sizable minority in the United States, many are denied basic human rights that are allotted to other American citizens.

Regardless of one’s personal religious beliefs on the matter of human sexuality, I would argue that most Americans would argue that denying a specific group of law-abiding citizens their rights is objectively wrong.

Hopefully, Americans would blanch at the thought of denying rights to citizens based on religion, race, or any other feature. Marriage equality is just one aspect of a much larger battle for members of the LGBT community.

Although the President mentioned the importance of rights for all members of our communities, actions on behalf of minority groups would truly speak volumes.

Employment discrimination and housing discrimination are major concerns, but are considerably less trendy causes than marriage equality.

According to GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders), “fewer than a third of all U.S. states have laws protecting people from discrimination based on sexual orientation, and only a handful prohibit discrimination based on a person’s gender identity or expression. There are no federal protections for LGBT civil rights”.

While many states are making strides towards equality for members of the LGBT community, there is still much work left to be done. Based upon President Obama’s statement, it is possible that members of the LGBT community may be granted their deserved rights in the coming years.