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According to the 1st Liberal Party Institute’s fourth annual Religious Freedom (RLS) index, Sunshine State is ranked as the number one advocate for religious freedom from all 50 states.
Florida is the top of the national rankings for the first time, followed by Montana, Illinois, Ohio and Mississippi. Illinois and Mississippi have won top five spots each year since the index, first released in 2022 by the first Liberty Institute’s Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy (CRCD), was first released.
The Index uses a detailed scoring system that measures legal protection and ranking status based on the percentage of safety measures that may have been adopted.
This year, nearly 55% of points separate from Florida and the final state of West Virginia in the 2025 rankings.
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Florida has just been given the top spot in the 2025 Religious Freedom Rankings for the conservative legal organisation, First Liberty Institute, and the group cites increased protections for religiously affiliated people. (istock)
“We found that the state is a religious freedom laboratory that can implement and test various protections for free movement,” wrote Jordan Baror, executive director of CRCD, in an introduction to the Index in 2025. “One of the main goals of the RLS project is to raise awareness of what different nations are doing. There are positive lessons to learn from this experiment as the Vanguard-based states protecting religious freedom will serve as a role model for states that are behind.”
A report accompanying the index points out that Florida is “a “model” for how state lawmakers can improve protections regarding religious freedom. According to the report, Sunshine State has improved nearly 20% points since the release of its first RLS index in 2022.
Much of this improvement came from a law passed in 2023. This allows healthcare providers to refuse to participate in medical procedures or services such as abortion or sterilization based on their religious or moral beliefs. The report also pointed to the passing of a law in 2022 that Florida would protect worship homes from discriminatory treatment in the pandemic and other emergencies.
Florida ranked number one out of all 50 states in the Fast Liberty Institute’s 2025 religious freedom rankings. (Getty Images; Istock)
“Florida holds several No. 1 rankings and leads the nation in education, economy and tourism. Currently, Florida is number one among religious freedom,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “We are grateful for this recognition from the first independent research institute to name Florida the number one state in the nation to protect religious freedom.”
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“This year’s findings clearly show that states are moving forward with legislative measures,” added Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO and chief advisor of First Liberty. “Under the leadership of the Governor of Florida, Florida has passed actual laws protecting real people. And now the Sunshine State is the national leader protecting religious freedom. Now is the time for more states to follow Governor DeSantis’ example and adopt strong religious freedom laws.”
Florida was pointed out as a “model” in the RLS index, but the report stated that religious freedom is becoming increasingly “dilute” in Illinois’ blue state. The Lincoln land movement was not because the state abolished protections, but because it mainly does not implement new protections other states have, such as Florida.
Almost all of Illinois’ protections came between 1934 and 1998 when the state was more conservative, according to the 2025 RLS report.
Florida was pointed out as a “model” in the RLS index, but the report stated that religious freedom is becoming increasingly “dilute” in Illinois’ blue state. (istock)
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To demonstrate the dangers of “self-satisfaction,” the report pointed to Colorado when Republicans “distancedly controlled both homes in the state legislature.” Reports show that the environment was friendly to religious freedom, but lawmakers did not pass much protection methods. The state’s self-satisfaction said it contributed to Colorado’s 43rd place finish in the 2024 RLS rankings, and it contributed to the 34th finish in the 2025 rankings released on Monday.
The first Liberty Institute said the outcome of the 2024 election may give people the idea that passing legislation protecting religious freedom is not so important, but conservative Christian legal groups warn that this is not “emphasis.”
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