The Williams Institute: Evidence of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Employment Discrimination
The Williams InstituteAccording to research by The Williams Institute, when surveyed, 16 to 68 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people report experiencing employment discrimination, and gay men earn 10 percent less than their straight male counterparts, not including the lost benefits when employer-provided health insurance covers spouses but not partners.
This 2007 report reviews more than 50 studies over the last decade and demonstrates a disturbing and consistent pattern: sexual orientation-based and gender identity discrimination is a common occurrence in many workplaces across the country. Surveys of LGBT individuals, studies of the sexual orientation earnings gap, and controlled experiments all provide evidence of discriminatory treatment.
- Bias in the Workplace: Consistent Evidence of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination [PDF] [ucla.edu]
This 2008 report reviews states where discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited under state employment law and shows that five out of every 10,000 lesbian, gay and bisexual workers file complaints — the same rate as sex discrimination complaints, and less than race discrimination complaints. At the same time, the average annual number of sexual orientation complaints for all states is just over 1,200 — compared with race and sex complaints at 11,500 and 13,800, respectively.
