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<\/p>\nWhile race and gender remain prime targets for bias, people of color who are also gay, lesbian or bisexual say sexual orientation is the biggest driver of\u00a0discrimination they face in the workplace, according to a new study shared exclusively with USA TODAY.<\/p>\n
Among Black LGB employees, 34% said they believed sexual orientation was the main reason for the discrimination they experienced on the job,\u00a0compared with\u00a036% of Latinos, 42% of Asians and 32% of Native American workers who felt the same, according to\u00a0a\u00a0survey conducted by the IBM\u00a0Institute for Business Value (IBV) and\u00a0Oxford Economics. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“We found across lines of race that there was agreement …sexual orientation was the biggest liability in terms of the discrimination experienced,\u2019\u2019\u00a0says Deena Fidas, managing director and chief program and partnerships officer for\u00a0Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, which collaborated with IBV\u00a0on a related survey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\u00a0recent wave of anti LGBTQ+ legislation may be a key reason some workers see such discrimination as their biggest threat.<\/p>\n
State lawmakers have introduced more than 250 bills this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, including legislation that would prohibit\u00a0transgender students from taking part in sports or bar teachers from talking about the LGBTQ community in the classroom. \u00a0Eighteen of the\u00a0bills have become law or are waiting for a governor’s signature.<\/p>\n
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Protestors and supporters gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 8, 2019 in Washington as the justices hear three challenges from New York, Michigan and Georgia involving workers who claim they were fired because they were gay or transgender. (Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)<\/span><\/p>\n “In the United States … we still don’t have consistent\u00a0federal civil right protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Fidas says, adding that while there is still more work to do to ensure equity along lines of race, gender and ability, there is at least a basic legal framework prohibiting discrimination in the workplace based on those characteristics. “The LGBTQ+\u00a0community simply doesn’t have that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Still, LGBTQ+ employees say they often face\u00a0biases aimed at multiple aspects of their identity. And for people of color, who felt sexual orientation was the primary reason they encountered discrimination, race wasn’t far behind.<\/p>\n Among Black employees who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, 27% said race was the main driver of discrimination in the workplace, the most of any group. That was compared with\u00a022% of Latino employees and 17% of Asian workers who felt the same.<\/p>\n Getting ready to return: <\/strong>Transgender people transitioned during COVID-19 and are bracing for a return to the office<\/span><\/p>\n Not a safe space: <\/strong>Top platforms are unsafe for LGBTQ community, new report says<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, 29% of Native American employees said that gender was the primary cause of their experiences with discrimination, second only to sexual orientation.<\/p>\n Employees of color believe the combination of biases they face\u00a0hinder\u00a0their ability to rise in the workplace.<\/p>\n While 50% of those who were lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) believed people who share the same race, gender and sexual orientation as them were less successful than Americans overall, 70% of African Americans who identified as LGB\u00a0felt that combination of traits was an obstacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meghan Stabler says that as a transgender woman, her current company's acceptance means she doesn't have to wrap herself in a protective shell. (Photo: Meghan Stabler)<\/span><\/p>\n Among Native Americans, the number dipped slightly to 67%, while\u00a057% of Latinos,\u00a056% of Asians, and 18% of whites who were LGB believed people who shared those same three characteristics were less successful. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Employees who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual also had a more difficult time juggling remote work with their caretaking responsibilities\u00a0during the pandemic,\u00a0with 43% saying it was a challenge as compared with\u00a034% of non-LGB workers.<\/p>\n That may be because employees who hid parts of their identity at the office now found themselves having to put their home life on display via Zoom,\u00a0says Ella Slade, IBM\u2019s Global LGBT+ Leader.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou see their partner in the background, or a rainbow flag hung in the home,” Slade says. “That can add a lot of stress.”<\/p>\n Or, an employee may have been “out at work,” but during the pandemic they quarantined\u00a0with friends and family who were not aware of their identity or gender expression. “That creates difficulties,” Slade says.<\/p>\n But the business community has taken concrete steps to be more welcoming and inclusive, LGBTQ+ advocates say, partly because their employees demand it.<\/p>\n Nearly nine in ten workers say their employer or organization should be a stronger public supporter of LGBTQ+ inclusion, according to IBV, which held an event in the spring with Out & Equal and Workplace Pride to gain insights about the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n Meghan Stabler has seen the difference between working for a company that is uncomfortable with her expressing her true gender identity, and one that is accepting.\u00a0<\/p>\n After she began transitioning\u00a0in 2004 while working as an executive for a tech company in Houston, Stabler was gradually stripped of responsibilities and demoted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t allowed to meet with customers anymore,\u2019\u2019 she recalls. \u201cI wasn\u2019t allowed to be the executive that was talking product strategy \u00a0\u2026 There was a fear if I did so, we would lose customers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n When Stabler began looking for a new position, she continued to struggle, barely getting a call back as she applied to roughly 65 positions over two years. But in 2018, she was hired by BigCommerce, an ecommerce platform, and she felt liberated.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have to have a layer of protectiveness or shell around me,\u2019\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n Despite the struggles she previously dealt with, Stabler says\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve been lucky. I have white privilege\u2026 It is detrimentally worse for Black trans people in the workplace.”<\/p>\n To create equitable workspaces, businesses should make sure the corporate leadership pipeline includes people who represent the LGBTQ+ community, Slade says. Communicating and enforcing anti discrimination policies, incorporating practices such as the recognition of an employee’s chosen pronouns, and advocating for civil rights legislation are also key.\u00a0<\/p>\n When a company takes a visible stand against legislation that would ban people from using a bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity\u00a0and similar proposals, “it sends a huge message,” Slade says, “not only to those lawmakers and local governments, but to your own employees.”\u00a0<\/p>\nRace, gender, still are factors\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Layers of bias<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nDuring pandemic, work-life balance was a particular challenge\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Businesses have stepped up<\/h2>\n