10% Of LGBT Individuals Have Faced Workplace Discrimination

One in 10 LGBT workers in the U.S. experienced discrimination at their jobs in the past year, including getting fired or not being hired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a UCLA study.

Lead author Brad Sears says the results are unexpected given how much progress the LGBT community had made in recent years.

"This was a little bit surprising because of the rapid advances in public support for LGBT people and this historic Supreme Court decision in the summer of 2020 that declared such workplace discrimination illegal," Sears said.

The study also found that one in four LGBT workers have experienced employment discrimination at some point in their lifetime, while one-third experienced harassment. People of color and transgender people faced more of this treatment than their white and cisgender counterparts did.

A large number of respondents also reported that people who harassed or discriminated against them invoked religious belief. Sears says passing federal civil rights legislation would close any loopholes based on religious exemption and could prevent this treatment.