Research

Quick Take: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Workplace Issues

Jun 17, 2019

POPULATION

It Is Difficult to Determine the Size of the LGBT Population

Stigma and methodological barriers make it difficult to get an accurate count of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) population.1 The following statistics are the best estimates from surveys around the world.

  • In Canada, 1.7% of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 59 are gay or lesbian, and an additional 1.3% are bisexual.2
  • In Japan, 8.9% of the population between the ages of 20 and 59 is LGBT.3
  • In the United Kingdom, 2.0% are LGB.4
  • In the United States, 4.5% are LGBT.5
Governments Often Measure Only Same-Sex Couples

Because it can be very difficult to measure the LGBT population, some surveys measure the number of those in same-sex relationships.6 The following percentages are the best estimates from such surveys around the world.

  • In Australia, 0.9% of all couples are same-sex couples.7
  • In Canada, 0.9% of all couples are same-sex couples.8
  • In Germany, 0.5% of all couples are same-sex couples.9
  • In the United States, 1.5% of all couple-households are same-sex couple-households.10

WORKPLACE

Most Countries and States Do Not Provide Legal Protections for LGBT Employees

Seventy-four countries prohibit discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.11

  • There is no federal law protecting employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the United States.12
    • There is no state-level protection for sexual orientation or gender identity in 29 of the 50 US states.13 This means employees can be fired for being LGBT.

In June 2017, the Canadian government amended the Human Rights Act to outlaw employment discrimination based on gender identity and expression.14

India’s Supreme Court struck down section 377 of India’s penal code, a colonial-era law that penalized consensual same-sex relations, in September 2018.15

Today, More Fortune 500 Companies Offer Benefits to Their LGBT Employees

As of 2018, 93% of Fortune 500 companies have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. Eighty-five percent have non-discrimination policies that include gender identity. Many companies also provide other benefits:16

  • 49% include domestic partner benefits.
  • 62% include transgender-inclusive benefits.
LGBT Employees Often Face Hostility in the Workplace

One-fifth (20%) of LGBTQ Americans have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when applying for jobs.17

  • LGBTQ people of color (32%) are more likely to experience this type of discrimination than white LGBTQ people (13%).18
  • 22% of LGBTQ Americans have not been paid equally or promoted at the same rate as their peers.19

Transgender workers are especially vulnerable to discrimination. In 2015, over a quarter (27%) of the transgender population said they were not hired, were fired, or were not promoted due to their gender identity or expression.20

  • 80% of the transgender population who were employed experienced harassment or mistreatment on the job or took steps to avoid it.21

Offensive jokes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are a form of harassment.22

  • Over half (53%) of LGBTQ employees heard lesbian and gay jokes at work, while 37% heard bisexual jokes and 41% heard transgender jokes in 2018.23
Fear Prevents LGBT Employees From Bringing Their Full Selves to Work

Almost half (46%) of LGBTQ workers in the United States are closeted in the workplace.24

Nearly two thirds (59%) of non-LGBTQ employees believe it is “unprofessional” to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace.25

LGBT people often cover or downplay aspects of their authentic selves (e.g., by hiding personal relationships or changing the way they dress or speak) in order to avoid discrimination.26

  • Employees report feeling exhausted from spending time and energy concealing their sexual orientation (17%) and gender identity (13%).27
Inclusive Work Cultures Determine Whether LGBT Employees Leave or Stay28

A quarter (25%) of LGBTQ employees report staying in a job due to a LGBTQ-inclusive work environment.29

  • 10% of LGBTQ employees have left a job because the work environment did not accept LGBTQ people.30

Leadership

Openly LGBT Corporate Leaders Are Rare

Fewer than 20 board directors in Fortune 500 companies were openly LGBT+ in 2018.31

  • In 2018, Beth Ford became the CEO of Land O’Lakes and the first openly gay woman to run a Fortune 500 company.32

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Catalyst, Ask Catalyst Express: LGBTQ+ Inclusion.

Catalyst, Ask Catalyst Express: Transgender Inclusion.

Catalyst, Flip the Script—Sexual Orientation in the Workplace (2017).

Catalyst, Flip the Script: Transgender in the Workplace—Actions (2018).

Catalyst, Flip the Script: Transgender in the Workplace—Words (2018).

Human Rights Campaign, “Restroom Access for Transgender Workers.”

ILGA, Map – Sexual Orientation Laws in the World (2019).

ILGA-Europe, Rainbow Europe 2019 (2019).

Mary Beth Maxwell, Ashland Johnson, Mark Lee, and Liam Miranda, 2018 U.S. LGBTQ Paid Leave Survey (Human Rights Campaign Foundation Public Education & Research, 2018).

Christine Silva and Anika K. Warren, Building LGBT-Inclusive Workplaces: Engaging Organizations and Individuals in Change (Catalyst, 2009).

Christine Silva and Anika K. Warren, Supporting LGBT Inclusion: A How-To Guide for Organizations and Individuals (Catalyst, 2009).

Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon and Alixandra Pollack, Feeling Different: Being the “Other” in US Workplaces (Catalyst, 2014).

DEFINITION: LGBT is the acronym most commonly used in the United States to address the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The acronym can vary in a number of ways, including GLBT and GLB, and can include additional letters, such as Q (queer or questioning), I (intersex), or A (asexual). Some include a plus (+) after the acronym to denote additional communities.33 We use the LGBT acronym throughout this Quick Take, except in instances in which a source uses another variation.

How to cite this product: Catalyst, Quick Take: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Workplace Issues (June 17, 2019).

  1. Sean Waite and Nicole Denier, “A Research Note on Canada’s LGBT Data Landscape: Where We Are and What the Future Holds,” Canadian Review of Sociology, vol. 56, no. 1 (2019): p. 93–117.
  2. Statistics Canada, “Same-Sex Couples in Canada in 2016,” The Daily, August 2, 2017.
  3. “Dentsu Diversity Lab Conducts ‘LGBT Survey 2018,’” Dentsu Inc. press release, January 10, 2019.
  4. Office for National Statistics, Sexual Orientation, UK: 2017 (January 21, 2019).
  5. The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, Adult LGBT Population in the United States (March 2019).
  6. Sean Waite and Nicole Denier, “A Research Note on Canada’s LGBT Data Landscape: Where We Are and What the Future Holds,” Canadian Review of Sociology, vol. 56, no. 1 (2019): p. 93–117.
  7. Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Same-Sex Couples in Australia, 2016,” 2071.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia – Stories from the Census, 2016 (2018).
  8. Statistics Canada, “Same-Sex Couples in Canada in 2016,” The Daily, August 2, 2017.
  9. Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt), “Datenreport 2018 – Kapitel 2: Familie, Lebensformen und Kinder,” (in German) (November 14, 2018): p. 52.
  10. US Census Bureau, “Table 1: Household Characteristics of Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex Couple Households,” 2017 American Community Survey (2018).
  11. Lucas Ramón Mendos, State-Sponsored Homophobia 2019 (ILGA, 2019): p. 245–255.
  12. Julie Moreau, “Can You Be Fired for Being Gay? Answer Depends Largely on Where You Live,” NBC News, January 25, 2019.
  13. Human Rights Campaign, “Employment,” State Maps of Laws & Policies (2019).
  14. Human Rights Watch, “Canada: Events of 2017,” World Report 2018 (2018).
  15. Human Rights Watch, “India, Events of 2018,” World Report 2019 (2019).
  16. Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Corporate Equality Index 2019: Rating Workplaces on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Equality (2019): p. 7.
  17. National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views of LGBTQ Americans (2017): p. 1.
  18. National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views of LGBTQ Americans (2017): p. 11.
  19. National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views of LGBTQ Americans (2017): p. 1.
  20. Sandy E. James, Jody L. Herman, Susan Rankin, Mara Keisling, Lisa Mottet, and Ma’ayan Anafi, The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (National Center for Transgender Equality, 2016): p. 148.
  21. Sandy E. James, Jody L. Herman, Susan Rankin, Mara Keisling, Lisa Mottet, and Ma’ayan Anafi, The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (National Center for Transgender Equality, 2016): p. 155.
  22. United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Harassment;” United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “What You Should Know About EEOC and the Enforcement Protections for LGBT Workers.”
  23. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 6.
  24. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 6.
  25. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 6.
  26. Catalyst, What Is Covering? (December 11, 2014); Sejal Singh and Laura E. Durso, “Widespread Discrimination Continues to Shape LGBT People’s Lives in Both Subtle and Significant Ways,” Center for American Progress, May 2, 2017.
  27. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 7.
  28. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 7.
  29. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 7.
  30. Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (Human Rights Campaign, 2019): p. 7.
  31. Out Leadership, Quorum: Out Leadership’s LGBT+ Board Diversity and Disclosure Guidelines (2019): p. 10.
  32. Beth Kowitt, “The Latest Female CEO in the Fortune 500 Breaks a Barrier,” Fortune, July 27, 2018.
  33. Catalyst, LGBTQ+ Terms to Know (2018); University of California, Davis, “LGBTQIA Resource Center Glossary.”