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GLBT Anti-Discrimination

Seventy-four percent of gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals have been the victims of discrimination based on their sexual orientation.1
Thousands of individuals report employment discrimination based on sexual orientation in states that forbid such discrimination.2 Gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals also experience discrimination in such areas as applying to a college, university or other school; renting an apartment or buying a house; and getting health care or health insurance.3
In 33 states, individuals can legally be fired from their jobs, or denied access to housing, educational institutions, credit, and public accommodations simply because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT).
There are no federal laws that explicitly prohibit discrimination against GLBT individuals. Only 17 states (CA, CT, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, RI, VT, WA, WI) and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Without anti-discrimination laws, GLBT people have no legal recourse when landlords deny housing or employers fire or refuse to hire them.
The American business community has widely adopted anti-discrimination policies.
More than 460 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than 2,600 private companies, colleges and universities, nonprofits and unions in the United States have adopted anti-discrimination policies that cover sexual orientation. One hundred forty-two Fortune 500 companies have adopted their policies since 2003.4 Anti-discrimination policies do not require employers to hire gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individuals. Rather, the policies prevent employers from using sexual orientation or gender identity or expression as the sole basis for refusing to hire, demoting, or discharging an individual.
Americans strongly support laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
According to a May 2006 Gallup poll, 89 percent of Americans believe that GLBT individuals should have equal rights in the workplace.5 A 2001 survey for the Kaiser Family Foundation found that three-quarters of Americans believe there should be laws that protect gays and lesbians from prejudice and discrimination in job opportunities and housing.6 Sixty-one percent of Americans also favor laws to prevent employment discrimination against transgender people.7
More than 30 percent of Americans live in jurisdictions that include “gender identity or expression” in their anti-discrimination laws.
Transgender people—whether they are transsexual or simply do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth—are often targeted for discrimination. Eight states (CA, HI, IL, ME, MN, NM, RI, WA), the District of Columbia, and more than 84 local jurisdictions have passed laws that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s gender identity or expression.8 Just ten years ago, only four percent of Americans lived in jurisdictions that banned discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.9
The GLBT Anti-Discrimination Act amends existing civil rights statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
This model, which is similar to laws in several states:
  • Prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, education, credit or lending, and housing based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
  • Creates a private right of action for aggrieved individuals.
  • Provides for enforcement through a state 
agency.

This policy summary relies in large part on information from Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Endnotes
  1. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “Inside-OUT: A Report on the Experiences of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals in America and the Public’s Views on Issues and Policies Related to Sexual Orientation,” November 2001.
  2. U.S. General Accounting Office, “Sexual Orientation-Based Employment Discrimination,” July 9, 2002.
  3. “Inside-OUT.”
  4. Equality Forum, “Fortune 500 Project,” September 1, 2006.
  5. Gallup poll, May 8-11, 2006.
  6. “Inside-OUT.”
  7. Human Rights Campaign, “Public Perceptions of Transgender People,” 2002.
  8. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, “Jurisdictions with Explicitly Transgender-Inclusive Anti-Discrimination Laws,” updated November 2006.
  9. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, “Glass Nearly Half Full,” January 2005.
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