One can easily infer from the optics that things have gotten better for LGBT Americans, just as same-sex marriage was enshrined in law.
Such a forecast, however, despite all the seeming LGBT inclusion in the past years, may have been short-sighted. This, when a collective front pushes back against the tide of LGBT equality, especially in the workplace.
We may very well be witnessing the dismantling of the legislative scaffolding that erected LGBT inclusion.
The LGBT inclusion landscape
Gavin Grimm, a Virginia high school trans student, made national news when he invoked the violation of a federal civil rights law. Diagnosed as gender dysphoric, Gavin contended with his high school back in December 2014, when an anti-trans mandate prohibited him from using the boys’ bathroom.
The civil-rights law, Title IX of Education Amendments Act of 1972, which bars sex discrimination, ultimately became a whirlwind in which Gavin’s lawsuit was caught. Then-President Barack Obama issued federal guidelines that would include transgender people under Title IX, for discrimination against trans people, according to some interpretations, is not akin to sex-based discrimination. This was a watershed moment, but the guideline was just that, a guideline.
Title VII and IX deferred
Simultaneously, as Title IX comes under attack, so too is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits “employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.” Like Title IX, Title VII is also under scrutiny because its semantics preclude sexual minorities. The legal outcomes could possibly further tip the scale against LGBT inclusion.
The current reality of this situation would portend an unfavorable employment situation for LGBT workers in terms of workplace discrimination and the LGBT wage gap. Wage disparities persist, too, in the not-so homogenous LGBT community. A quarter of all LGBT Americans, nearly 2.2 million people, are food insecure. The breadth of economic woes are already severe, too; trans unemployment is double the rate of unemployment of the overall population. Worst still, trans people were four times more likely to face extreme poverty, with an annual income of $10,000. The poverty rate of women in same-sex couples is at 7.9 percent, while the national average for different-sex couples is at 5.8 percent. But for black men in same-sex couples, for example, the poverty rate is at 14.5 percent.
As Title IX and VII enter new battlegrounds, LGBT individuals can marry and get fired in 28 states on the same day, and for trans individuals, this number of states increases to 30.
Being LGBT, at work
Whilst this battle wages, companies are paying attention as improved and inclusive workplaces yield positive business results. According to The Williams Institute at UCLA, among the top 50 federal contractors, “86 percent include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies and 55 percent include gender identity.” The absence of inclusion will come at an estimated cost of about $64 billion to U.S. employers. Some companies, such as Deutsche Bank and PayPal, have gone as far as wielding their political clout, most notably during a legislative fight in North Carolina.
The Human Rights Campaign, additionally, has generated a list of the best places to work in 2017, based on a corporate equality index.
Are things getting better?
Legislation has been one option of many to address LGBT inclusion. The memory of Edith Windsor, the pioneering LGBT activist whose landmark case culminated in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, reminds us of this. With changing attitudes, perhaps legislation is not too far off and should be kept that way.
Have something to add to this story? Comment below or join the discussion on Facebook.
Header image: Adobe Stock
