Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
people suffer pervasive discrimination in employment, housing, public
accommodation, education, medical care, and in their everyday lives
because of homophobia and a lack of legal protection. Despite the
flawed "special rights" argument made by conservative
opponents, nondiscrimination laws simply help to ensure that LGBT
people have equal access to the same opportunities and protections
granted to everyone else, such as the ability to work in an environment
where people are judged by their job performance, not their sexual
orientation or gender identity.
Facts & Statistics
Numerous studies have documented the prevalence
of discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and
public accommodation, providing more than enough evidence to support
the need for nondiscrimination legislation, for example:
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51 percent of lesbians
and gay men in Pennsylvania reported experiencing discrimination
in their lifetime
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54 percent of respondents in a 2001 statewide
survey of lesbian, gay, and bisexual New Yorkers had experienced
discrimination in employment, housing, or public accommodation
since 1996, with eight percent reporting that they were fired
specifically because of their sexual orientation; 27 percent
also reported being called names such as "faggot"
and "dyke" in the workplace
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35 percent of respondents in a 2004 Task
Force survey of residents of Topeka, KS reported receiving harassing
letters, e-mails, or faxes at work because of their sexual orientation,
and 29% had observed discrimination based on sexual orientation
seeking social or government services
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Despite these findings, the U.S. Congress has failed
to pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) since its was
first proposed in 1994. However, a patchwork of state laws does
provide LGBT people with some protections from discrimination. As
of April 2004, 15 states and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination
based on sexual orientation; four of those states also prohibit
discrimination based on gender identity.
Eleven states have an executive order, administrative
order, or regulation that prohibits discrimination against public
employees based on sexual orientation, with two of those states
including gender identity. And seven state courts, commissions,
or agencies have interpreted existing state laws to include some
protections from discrimination for transgender people. At the local
level, 52 cities and nine counties in the U.S. have nondiscrimination
laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity.
Nearly half of the U.S. population lives in a state
or municipality with a sexual orientation nondiscrimination law.
One-quarter of Americans lives in a state or municipality with a
gender identity nondiscrimination law. This is a significant increase
compared to data from 1990, when only eight percent of the population
lived in an area with a sexual orientation nondiscrimination law.
Americans Overwhelmingly Support Nondiscrimination
Legislation
The increased prevalence of nondiscrimination
laws at the state and local level is not surprising given that a
majority of Americans (56 percent) have supported workplace protections
since 1977, the earliest national poll data available. A more recent
Gallup poll from May 2003 found that nearly nine in 10 Americans
(88 percent) support "equal opportunities for gays and lesbians
in the workplace."
A more recent Los Angeles Times poll found similar
levels of support nationwide, with 72 percent of Americans favoring
a law that would protect gay and lesbian people from job discrimination,
an increase from 52 percent in 1993. Additionally, three out of
four Americans polled support a law that would protect gay and lesbian
people from housing discrimination. Even 43 percent of respondents
who identify as "conservative" would support protecting
gay and lesbian people under civil rights laws similar to anti-discrimination
laws that protect racial minorities.
From National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force
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