Since the beginning of their existence and in today’s society, the community of LGBT workers are not being treated fairly or getting their fair share that they deserve in the workplace. They are victims to high rates of workplace discrimination. Instead of being judged as workers and what they bring to their jobs and how they work, they are being judged by their sexual preferences and appearance. Being a gay or transgender worker causes them to be mistreated, not judged for the actual workers they are, and most importantly, halts a majority of them in better career and job opportunities. Although under federal law it is illegal to fire someone who is either gay or transgender, they are still either being denied employment or being terminated from their jobs because of their gender category or sexual orientation.
A great amount of problems still exist in LGBT workplaces, rights in the sphere have evolved and there are signs for a better and brighter future for the community. “The government has announced that it will be advancing legislation to amend section 37.1 of the employment equality act, which currently allows religious—run institutions, such as schools and hospitals to discriminate against LGBT employees. But the amendment will not protect every worker, as Rob Buchanan reports.” (BUCHANAN)
Both gay and transgender individuals continue to face widespread discrimination in their workplace. They are being judged by factors that have no impact on how they perform and
According to the article “Gender Identity Discrimination” (n.d), this occurs in the place of work when a company or its management makes a distinction in opposition to a worker exclusively because of their sexual characteristics or distinctiveness. This can include ceasing employment for a transgender staff member after the company/employer discovers the employee's gender distinctiveness or intended plan for conversion. This can also consist of rejecting a transgender employee’s admittance to the bathroom amenities at work that are accessible to other staff members. This may also include necessitating a transgender individual use the bathroom that is not constant with the person’s gender individuality or appearance. Also included in this form of discrimination is harassment or refusing to investigate claims of persecution by coworkers and management. As well as, any other unconstructive employment exploitation directly related to the employee’s gender presentation. Is should be noted that at right now , this category of discrimination is not illegal under federal law , however, there is governmental endeavors in the works to pass federal laws to make it unequivocally
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits job discrimination based on race, color, gender, religion and nation of origin. With the recent acceptance of marriage equality, it may leave the population doubting if they can be open and honest about their life. While, Title VII now encompasses the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) population, individuals may continue to fear their protection within the employment process. This is due to the ongoing debate within each state to implement anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT workers. This may encourage people to purse a career based on fear of discrimination rather than compatibility.
Title VII of the Civils Rights Act of 1964 is a U.S. federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. Title V11 applies to private and public universities, local, state and federal governments, labor organizations and employment agencies. Today, the conversation surrounding discrimination has increasingly been based on race and gender and has emerged as an issues that many employers are trying to address in workforce development. Unfortunately, there are other groups that have similar attention or protection under U.S. laws and if so, they are still facing discrimination. LGBT employees are a group that has received minimal attention when it
Crosby Burns wrote “The Gay and Transgender Wage Gap” for Americanprogress.org, and the view of the article is clear from the beginning. “Unfortunately, many gay and transgender workers receive unequal pay for equal work in the United States today”
In America, there are laws and policies to protect the working class. Employers can not discriminate on employees based on race or gender, although sexual orientation is not covered by such laws. This leaves gay people venerable to discrimination in the work place or the termination of their job, because of how they choose to express their sexuality. This venerability caused by the lack of anti-discrimination laws. This puts gay people into a situation that is less stable than their heterosexual counter parts. As long as a person’s intimate relationships do not impact work performance, then a person’s relationship choices, gay or not, should not be a concern to the employer. Homophobia is often based on one’s religious belief that gays
Recognized figures reveal their sexual orientation in public and in films and on television homosexual characters are depicted (Anderssen & Ytteroy, 2002). Despite these advances in the American mainstream, lesbians, gays and bisexuals continue to face discrimination in all areas of life. No federal law prevents a person from being dismissed or denied a job based on their sexual orientation. In different dimensions, the battle continues to gain equality by exercising their human rights. However, there are powerful beings in society that want to reverse the fighting and return to the past. Though progress has been made regarding a degree of acceptance for the LGBT population, they will continue to fight against discrimination and the persecution of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals. There remains a battle that lies ahead.
For 29 States in the US, it is legal to fire an employee for being gay, lesbian or bisexual. 38 States in the Union have no laws on record preventing discrimination against gender identity or expression—commonly known as transgender. While these statistics may be disheartening for many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals, it is not all doom and gloom. Employment protections and rights for GLBTs have grown exponentially in the past two decades.
Throughout history there have been numerous legal cases and issues relating to the LGBT community involving workplace equality. One topic that has recently been a popular issue would be the employment rights for LGBT individuals. Equal treatment in the workplace and not being discriminated against for your sexual identity or sexual orientation is extremely important in today’s society. During these past couple of decades our government has worked hard in trying to pass certain laws that are supposed to protect the LGBT community when it comes to being employed and not allowing businesses to discriminate against someone for their sexual identity. However, that is not always the case and businesses still find ways around these laws or certain states will try to surpass these laws.
LGBT people continue to face real discrimination and there is no federal law preventing them fro being fired or denied work based on their sexual orientation. The military is notorious for their public discrimination of gays and lesbians They can lose their children for being gay or lesbian, and are even denied the right to marry in some states. In 1992 Colorado executed Amendment 2, which opposed the current state laws and blocked future laws protecting lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from discrimination. The U. S. Supreme Court case 1996 Romer v. Evans decision. We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. Which Colorado could not do. A state cannot deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws. (Justice Anthony Kennedy, Majority Opinion in Romer v, Evans I)
In order to advance the cause of LGBT equality, society must create and enforce federal LGBT worker protections in order to protect LGBT adults and must ban gay conversion therapy in order to protect LGBT children. Federal LGBT worker protections would protect civil liberties, incentivize society to become more tolerant, and promote economic
The Employer Nondiscrimination Act has the component to give all equal rights to same-sex couples in the work area. This being said a worker cannot be and judge based on whom he/she choose to love. All employees in the work area must be with the same respect and judgments. It means that employees have to be judged by their quality of work in the job. Thus, the majority of American companies have already set protections similar to ENDA, including 96.6 percent of corporations on the Fortune 500 list (The Washington Post, 2013). The supporters view results do not just promote equality in the country, but it also shows other countries how much United States can improve by giving all citizens equal rights. Some of the law's supporters also believe that the bill will help society because it is a step forward to acceptance bringing families and communities closer together to worry about other issues concerning the country. It will also increase the labor force participation percentage to increase as more protection is being given to employees. It would benefit the country as more and more jobs can be created and will not have to spend so much money on early retirements. As discrimination continues to be a problem for LGBT worker, it is more likely that they will quit the job, and increase unemployment. It can sometimes have a consequence in the business because it prevents a worker from
According to the Center for American Progress, “studies show that anywhere from 15% to 43% of gay people have experienced some form of discrimination and harassment at the workplace. Moreover, a staggering 90 percent of transgender workers report some form of harassment or mistreatment on the job.” (Burns & Krehely, 2011) This doesn’t just affect the individual, it affects the worker’s productivity and confidence on the job, in some cases it may affect the pay which ultimately throws off the individual’s income for stability within their responsibilities, this can affect the business in a negative way. The list can go on and on of the consequences brought on by employment discrimination. According to USA Today’s Jennifer Calfas, “it is legal to fire someone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. While there is some federal recourse through civil rights and equal employment claims, there's no national anti-discrimination law to protect LGBT workers from state whims. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits job discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion and nation of origin, but does not extend those protections to LGBT people.” (Calfas, 2015) Luckily, USA Today’s Jennifer Calfas also states that “Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting employers from firing employees due to just their sexual orientation or gender
Because of this many of them arrive to work in fear of rejection or being ‘outed’ causing them to lose their job. As discovered by expert Cosby Burns “Discrimination and unequal treatment on the job inflicts significant economic harm on gay and transgender public-sector employees and their families.” (http://www.americanprogress.org) Many open homosexuals will be turned down for employment just because of their sexual orientation despite qualifications, even though it is completely irrelevant to their skills and no one’s business but their own.
M. V. Lee Badgett mentions in his article “What Obama Should Do About Workplace Discrimination,” that this would make a great first step on what concerns banning workplace discrimination against homosexuals by federal contractors. If the government, the structural system of our country, is not only willing to accept all but pose as a model of approval towards all kinds of sexual orientations, then so should we, the people, who make part of the nation. Discrimination against this group of people is unfortunate, but extremely common nowadays; more and more individuals are being harassed, not compensated with adequate wages, and/or fired from their jobs because of the way they sexually identify themselves. This strikes a fear in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees who feel as though they must produce more than the average worker in order to not be affected or expelled from their jobs, often leading them to not take illness days off, vacations, and to perhaps be more productive than the majority of their colleagues. Badgett explains that by issuing an executive order against workplace discrimination, President Obama will be able to gradually bring back equality to the nation, providing parallel opportunities for all and reducing stress, fear, as well as death and unemployment rates in the gay community.
Many LGBT have to face discrimination while trying to attend and can be such a huge obstacle to try to receive an education when you have to go to a hostile work environment every day. In the article “Like walking through a Hailstorm-discrimination against LGBT Youth in US Schools” states that “A lack of policies and practices that affirm and support LGBT youth-and failure to implement protections that do exist -means that LGBT students nationwide continue to face bullying, exclusion, and discrimination in school, putting them at physical and phycological risk and