"Love should never mean having to live in fear." -- Dashanne Stokes
Story from the experience of K’Danz Cruz:
"I was working at a retail store, and I was never allowed to start my gender-affirming transition because the management team would tell me that customers would feel uncomfortable. I was repeatedly told that the customer always comes first and that due to customer apprehension, I could not transition." -- K'Danz Cruz
LGBTQ+ Discrimination in the Workplace Presentation
As the years go by, more and more people have fought for the LGBTQIA+ community and their rights. The community and its allies continue to grow on a daily basis, only to continue to face mistreatment. Despite all the progression, LGBTQIA+ people continue to be discriminated against on their career paths. LGBTQIA+ people have to suffer with less benefits, less job opportunities, and are treated very differently overall. All the issues mentioned can be unreasonably prominent in the workplace. After reviewing the history of discrimination towards LGBTQIA+ people at work, the best option is to set laws against all prejudice.
People in the LGBTQIA+ community get treated differently in the Workplace
As many know, people in the LGBTQIA+ community have been treated poorly for a while now. Aveda Adara was just one woman who spoke up about the difficulties at her places of work. She is transgender woman and has been misgendered and made fun of numerous times at her workplace. She said, “My own manager would routinely discriminate against me, and nit pick and micromanage me.” Her colleagues were so rude that she had to quit her job. After doing so, she struggled with having enough money. When she went for job interviews there were a lot of people who laughed at her and tried to belittle her. This made her feel terrible about herself and caused severe depression. Unfortunately, she lives in Texas, where there are no laws to protect her. This is why we need to have laws put in place to protect everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community from ever feeling like Aveda did.
In many office buildings, the bathrooms are labeled Men’s Room and Women’s Room. Everyday people who work in buildings like this have to use these bathrooms. However, a part of them are transgender or non-binary. Non-binary people don’t identify with either of these genders, and transgender men and women constantly experience harmful comments from coworkers when it comes to access to labeled bathrooms. There is an easy solution to this problem: Gender-neutral or unisex bathrooms. This gives non-binary people a bathroom they can use without feeling like they are being judged. In addition, there is a similar problem with legal documents when it comes to checking off a man or woman. One solution to this problem would be applying a method that some states are starting to use on driver’s licenses: option “x”, a third option representing anything between male and female. This could also be helped by using gender-neutral pronouns when referring to multiple people of different gender identities. On this map, the 27 green states are developing a fair law against discrimination of people in the LGBTQIA+ community in the workplace. Less than 4% of people in this community are protected in the 20 orange states, and none are protected in the 8 red states. It has also been brought to the attention of many that company dress codes need to be revised. Companies should update their dress codes to remove specific gender related restrictions like requiring women to wear skirts or dresses. This will help people who don’t identify as a man or a woman be able to dress how they want to, as well as people who don’t dress to fit the stereotypes associated with their gender.
"Being asexual is like being born without a sense of smell, but everywhere you go people are spraying perfume in your face and when you ask them to stop and tell them it's irritating you, they get huffy and reply with 'Don't lie to me; I can clearly see you have a nose, therefore everybody smells things, and besides, maybe you just haven't found the right smell yet.' Then you just want to scream."
People in the LGBTQIA+ community get less opportunities
Let's say that you are looking to fill in a position for a job. You’ve narrowed it down to two candidates. One of them is a better person for the job, but they are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The other is not as good of a fit for the job, but they are heterosexual. Which would you choose? You would choose the one that is better suited for the job, right? It’s obviously the better choice, yet many employers won’t hire them for one reason: their place in the LGBTQIA+ community. 18% of the LGB respondents to the GSS (General Social Survey), a nationally representative survey done by the University of Chicago on American social trends, reported that they have experienced employment disctimination in keeping and/or applying for a job because of their sexual orientation. In addition, 30% of transgender respondants to the 2015 USTS (US Transgender Survey) reported being denied for a promotion, not hired for a job, or fired for their gender expression or identity. Technically, these people were discriminated against for who they truly are. They were discriminated against for not who they want to be, not who they chose to be, but who they were born as and who they were meant to be. This is not the right thing to do, and it is unfair towards the LGBTQIA+ community. LGBTQIA+ families need to make a living too, but in a society where they are constantly discriminated against, it’s not a walk in the park to make one. If we all accept that an LGBTQIA+ person is still a human being and is equal to us, the world would be a better place for the LGBTQIA+ community.
People in the LGBTQIA+ community get less benefits
As a result of their sexuality, workplace benefits are withheld from people in the LGBTQIA+ community. It's unfair because an employee's personal life and sexuality shouldn’t have to do with anything in their work life. For work, managers and interviews should look at the skills and resume of the person in question, but instead some look at their sexuality. Some LGBTQIA+ employees get paid less too. The LGBTQIA+ community deserves correct payment for their work. Their sexuality shouldn’t have to do anything with their work and how much they get paid. People work to get money for themselves, to get food, to pay taxes, and more. The LGBTQIA+ people have to pay for those too, so it’s not fair for them to get paid less, even though they work the same. Also, healthcare workers sometimes refuse to give people in the LGBTQIA+ community medication. For example, one man with HIV told a hospital that he had sex with another man and the healthcare workers refused to give him the medication that he needed. Imagine if you were in that situation. You come to the hospital because you're sick and need medication but they refuse because of who you love. This is 2021 and the LGBTQIA+ community needs proper laws and rights to protect them and give them the benefits they deserve.
Conclusion
Being part of the LGBTQIA+ community is not a choice. Many try to fight it, but their sexual orientation isn’t up to them and they are being punished for something they cannot control. The fact of the matter is that LGBTQIA+ employees face discrimination everyday in their workplace. Not only can this negatively impact job performance, but it can also lead to damaged mental health. They receive less benefits, opportunities, and unfair treatment while just trying to do their jobs. In the workplace, the focus is supposed to be on work. However, some bring in their personal bias and problems to harass LGBTQIA+ colleagues, which is why laws against harassment and discrimination about gender identity and sexual orientation are needed. The end goal of the community and its allies is acceptance without exception, and workplace laws would help tremendously.
