The LGBTQA+ community has made considerable strides in the past decade. Gay marriage was only legalized in 2016. More recently, the landmark Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County determined that sexual orientation is protected under the Civil Rights Act.
The trouble is that there’s still a long way to go before LGBTQA+ Americans are truly treated as equals. For example, a recent study found that more than half of all LGBTQA+ workers in the country face job discrimination of some kind. Luckily, Bostock v. Clayton County now gives these people the same protections any other protected class receives. LGBTQA+ workers can’t be discriminated against for their orientation any more than they can be for their race or religion.
Keep reading to learn about how LGBTQA+ people are currently facing discrimination and how to resolve harassment you’re facing yourself.
The Current State of LGBTQA+ Discrimination
The new report, “LGBT People’s Experiences of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment,” was published by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. The report covers data from May 2021 and examines both recent and past experiences of discrimination suffered by the LGBTQA+ community. The study’s intention was to explore how the pandemic and the Bostock v. Clayton County decision affected LGBTQA+ workers.
The results weren’t great, unfortunately. The study found that 46% of LGBTQA+ workers have faced unfair treatment during their careers because of their gender or orientation. Furthermore, 25.9% of the survey respondents stated that they’d been sexually harassed at work, while a further 20.8% reported physical harassment, including physical violence.
The statistics were even worse for people of color who were also part of the LGBTQA+ community. LGBTQA+ POC were more than 50% more likely to be denied a job than white respondents. They were also 40% more likely to experience verbal harassment at work.
It’s clear that while Bostock v. Clayton County was an important step for LGBTQA+ rights, it hasn’t trickled down into the workplace yet. But what does this discrimination look like on an individual level?
What’s Considered LGBTQA+ Discrimination in the Workplace
Discrimination can take many forms. It’s generally considered different treatment based on the person’s protected status. Harmful behavior in the workplace can look like this:
- Invasive questions. Occasional friendly comments are one thing, but constant or intrusive questions about someone’s personal life, body, or orientation can leave people uncomfortable and generate a hostile workplace.
- Indirect comments. A hostile workplace isn’t always the result of targeted comments. If someone is part of the LGBTQA+ community but is not out to their coworkers, they may still experience a hostile environment. If people regularly use slurs or otherwise complain about or make upsetting comments about the LGBTQA+ community, the workplace is still hostile toward the employee.
- Denial of promotions and jobs. Ifsomeone is denied a promotion or employment because of their orientation or gender presentation, they are experiencing discrimination.
Any threatening language or physical abuse based on someone’s orientation, from slurs to property damage to shoving someone, is considered not just discrimination, but workplace harassment. Actual bodily harm moves from harassment to true hate crimes.
Any kind of abuse is unacceptable in the workplace. No one should face intolerant behavior because of their gender presentation or orientation.
Resolving Workplace Discrimination
If you’ve been facing workplace discrimination, you’ve probably already tried the simplest tactic: asking people to stop. If that hasn’t worked, it’s time to move on to more serious methods. Here’s how to approach discrimination in the workplace the right way.
Continue to Do Your Best
In at-will employment states, employers don’t need a reason to fire someone. If you don’t have a strict employment contract, that means you can be fired with no reason given, and it’s on you to prove that discrimination was the cause. So, while you’re working to improve your workplace conditions, continue to do your best. If your work remains consistent, you give your employer fewer things to point to as an excuse for firing you and strengthen your case.
Document Incidents
Take the time to write down examples of discrimination. Note the date and time, what took place, and who was involved. For example, you might list: “1/12/2021, Megan and Mark used slurs repeatedly in a conversation and refused to stop when confronted.” If you can, also include documentation, such as emails with discriminatory language or recordings of conversations. Over time, this demonstrates a pattern of behavior that’s critical to identifying a hostile workplace.
Start a Paper Trail with HR
Whether or not you’ve already reached out to your company’s Human Resources department, you should do so again. Even if the HR department doesn’t solve these problems, it demonstrates that you’re putting in a good-faith effort to solve the discrimination issue within the company. Furthermore, building a paper trail through email also acts as additional documentation of each incident. You can even bcc your personal email on each message to HR to ensure you have private copies of the messages if the company attempts to backtrack.
Get an Attorney
If nothing else has worked, then you should start working with an attorney. Having a good workplace harassment attorney is invaluable for negotiations. It demonstrates that you’re serious about your complaints, which may help your employer understand the severity of the situation. An expert attorney can also help you decide when it’s time to move beyond mediation and file a lawsuit.
Stand Up to Intolerance
You don’t need to put up with discrimination based on your sexual orientation or identity. In fact, you’re now officially part of a protected class according to the Supreme Court. If you’re one of the 50% of American LGBTQA+ workers who’s faced discrimination in the workplace, you can take action.
Schedule your consultation with a workers’ rights attorney today. You can discuss your situation, learn about your options, and start planning your case. Whether you choose mediation or to pursue a lawsuit, a good attorney will help you exercise your right to a safe and equitable workplace.
