An updated report
shows continual evidence of workplace discrimination
against gays and lesbians, according to the Williams
Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy
at the UCLA School of Law.
The report, which
is an analysis of over 50 studies, has found
that 15% to 43% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual individuals
polled since the mid 1990s claim that they have
experienced employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation.A 1992 survey of
studies reports a comparable range: 16% to 68%.
Transgender
individuals reported similar figures, with 20% to 57% having
faced employment discrimination based on their gender
identity at some point in their professional careers.
"We can
clearly document that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender people are vulnerable to discrimination
and to its harmful effects on earnings and
jobs," coauthor M.V. Lee Badgett said in a press
release.
Additional
studies surveyed in this report reveal these effects,
showing that gay men earn anywhere from 10% to 32%
less than their heterosexual coworkers. The wage
comparison between lesbians and heterosexual women was
less clear across the different studies. However, they do
show that lesbians consistently earn less than
heterosexual or gay men.
Although none of the studies conducted detailed
wage and income analyses of the transgender
population, smaller geographic and population samples
reveal that many respondents report being unemployed, and
depending on the study, 22% to 64% of employed
transgender people earn less than $25,000 per year.
(The Advocate)