Landmark Supreme Court Decision Provides Employment Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBTQ People
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is illegal under federal law for employers to discriminate against LGBTQ workers. In the midst of the COVID-19 health crisis and vitally important nationwide demonstrations in support of Black lives and against systemic racism, this decision is heartening and encouraging.
Employment nondiscrimination laws protect LGBTQ people from being unfairly fired, not hired, or discriminated against in the workplace by private employers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Before today’s ruling, only 22 states and D.C. had laws that explicitly prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Now, 100% of LGBTQ people in the United States, regardless of whether they live in states with nondiscrimination laws, are protected from employment discrimination under federal law.
Why Are Employment Nondiscrimination Protections Important?
LGBTQ people report high rates of discrimination when looking for work and on the job:
- A recent study suggests that nearly 50% of LGBTQ workers remain closeted at work and fear being stereotyped or jeopardizing professional connections.
- 25% of LGBTQ people report experiencing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year, half of whom said it negatively impacted their work environment.
- 22% of LGBTQ workers were not paid or promoted at the same rate as colleagues.
Transgender employees and LGBTQ workers of color experience disproportionately higher levels of discrimination in the workplace. This anti-LGBTQ bias creates massive hurdles in the day-to-day:
- 27% of transgender workers reported being fired, not hired, or denied promotion in the past year.
- LGBTQ workers of color are at least twice as likely as white LGBTQ people to say they have been personally discriminated against because they are LGBTQ when applying for jobs.
What’s more, LGBTQ people of color are at significant risk of being unemployed compared to both white LGBTQ people and to non-LGBTQ people of color. In addition, unemployment rates for transgender people of color have reached as high as four times the national unemployment rate. These barriers combined make it difficult for LGBTQ workers of color to find good and steady jobs that provide them with the economic security they need to support themselves and their families.
At a time when many are struggling to make ends meet for themselves and their families, the Supreme Court’s ruling sends a clear message that discrimination against LGBTQ people is unacceptable. But that’s just part of what is needed to achieve true equality.
Our nation, at every level, needs to address the racism that perpetuates discrimination and violence against Black people — and all people of color, including those who are LGBTQ — even when such discrimination and violence are formally prohibited by law.
Even with today’s decision, Black LGBTQ people will still face disproportionate discrimination across their lives. Until our laws remedy systemic racism and inequality, and our culture catches up to those laws, our movement’s pursuit of LGBTQ equality is far from done.
We also need Congress to fully protect LGBTQ people from discrimination and pass full federal nondiscrimination protections — and for the business community to play a leading role in advocating for these legal protections.
Even after today’s decision, it will still be legal under federal law:
- For stores, restaurants and hotels to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
- For federally funded programs, including hospitals, colleges, and adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
- To discriminate against women in public accommodations and federally funded programs
- To discriminate against just about anyone in a wide range of public accommodations ranging from retail stores to transportation services.
Today’s decision is an important step forward. It is also a powerful reminder of how much work is left to do, and how critical that work remains.
