New Study by the Williams Institute: “Documented Evidence of Employment Discrimination & Its Effects on LGBT People” (July 2011)
The Williams Institute’s findings include:
- As recently as 2008, the GSS, a national probability survey representative of the U.S. population, found that of lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents, 27% had experienced at least one form of sexual orientation-based discrimination during the five years prior to the survey. More specifically, 27% had experienced workplace harassment and 7% had lost a job.
- The GSS found that among lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who are open about their sexual orientation in the workplace, an even larger proportion, 38%, experienced at least one form of discrimination during the five years prior to the survey.
- Not surprisingly, more than one-third of LGB respondents to the GSS reported that they were not out to anyone at work, and only 25% were out to all of their co-workers.
When surveyed separately, transgender respondents report even higher rates of employment discrimination and harassment than LGB people.
- As recently as 2011, 78% of respondents to the largest survey of transgender people to date reported experiencing at least one form of harassment or mistreatment at work because of their gender identity; more specifically, 47% had been discriminated against in hiring, promotion, or job retention.
- Consistently, 70% of transgender respondents to a 2009 California survey and 67% of transgender respondents to a 2010 Utah survey reported experiencing employment discrimination because of their gender identity.
