The Williams Institute just published a report that addresses Employment Discrimination and Its Effects on LGBT People. I, for one, am very grateful to have documented evidence of what I and others have experienced.
Before I get to the actual report, allow me to relay just a couple of incidents that I experienced in the past 20 years. Many years ago I was teaching a history class and the conversation around civil rights came up. Several of the African-American girls started to quote bible verses and said that “gays had no right to talk about civil rights.” I questioned the entire class and encouraged them to think outside of their religious beliefs and think about what civil rights meant and why should gays be denied civil rights. The next day, a father of one of those girls cornered me in an office and stood over me with his bible in hand and started to yell at me about how I was an abomination and that I would burn in hell. (Hmm, who would Jesus hate?)
Many years later, I was teaching a Student Success Class at a small university in Oregon. I had a Mormon colleague there who felt compelled to come into my office and tell me: “I don’t hate you, but I do hate your sin and I want you to know I pray for you.” Really? Really? You are going to pray for me? All I could think was: “You are wearing double knit polyester–you need my prayers more than I need yours.” Needless to say, my stint at the university was not a good fit; it was not a safe environment for the LGBT community.
After reading the report from the Williams Institute, I felt both sad and validated. I was not alone in being discriminated against. Unfortunately, every time I had something bad happen to me because of sexual orientation, I usually blamed myself and would, for the longest time, try to return to the closet and “butch it up,” as much as I was able.
Here is the summary of the report:
Although sexual orientation and gender identity have no relationship to workplace performance, during the past four decades a large body of research using a variety of methodologies has consistently documented high levels of discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) people at work. Evidence of discrimination has been reviewed and summarized in two recent reports by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law: a 2009 report focused on discrimination in the public sector and a 2007 report focused on employment discrimination in the private sector. This review excerpts key findings from those reports and updates those findings with results from recent studies. In addition, it presents for the first time, data documenting discrimination against LGB employees from the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS), a national probability survey representative of the U.S. population.
As a matter of safety, I would strongly encourage my LGBT sisters and brothers to look at both non-discrimination clauses and diversity statements when applying for jobs. Hopefully you live in a state where sexual orientation is a protected class, if not get out and vote. Here is where the personal is political! Click hereto see the full report. This report nicely dovetails with the recent USA Today article: Crimes against LGBT community are up, despite social gains. The article addresses increased violenceagainst people in the LGBT community.