Currently, LGBT Americans are subject to great uncertainty and potential discrimination in the workplace.
Only 19 states and D.C. explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. Of the LGBT Americans who have experienced discrimination, 47 percent reported experiencing discrimination in the workplace.
Last week, HRC endorsed The Equality Act, a comprehensive federal non-discrimination law. The Equality Act wouldn’t just provide explicit protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace. It would also provide basic protections against discrimination in access to public spaces, housing, education, jury service, credit and federal funding.
Additionally, The Equality Act doesn’t change the exemptions available for religious institutions under federal law or the First Amendment.
In the past week, major corporations, including Microsoft, American Airlines, Facebook, Nike, General Mills, Google, Apple, The Dow Chemical Company and Levi Strauss & Co., released statements making clear that they believe all LGBT Americans should have the protections from discrimination in federal law that they deserve.
The results of a new Democracy Corps survey from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research released last week indicates that support for non-discrimination legislation unites the country. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of likely Republican voters support protecting LGBT people from workplace discrimination, as do 90 percent of Democrats. Similarly, this legislation draws impressive majorities of support among college (84 percent) and non-college voters (73 percent), younger (85 percent) and older voters (75 percent), as well as observant Christians (70 percent).
In March, polling conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for HRC revealed that nearly two-thirds of LGBT Americans (63 percent) have faced discrimination in their lives, with LGBT people reporting workplace discrimination as the most frequently experienced form of discrimination.
