LGBTQ Discrimination

The LGBTQ community is one of the most discriminated against minority groups, statistically and historically. Very recently, this has started to change, with the government recognizing and legalizing gay marriage and some states making laws to protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination. However, there is still a long way to go and these few, small steps forward have led to a lot of pushback from conservatives and some religious groups. Discrimination can be overt, like refusing to serve someone solely based on their sexuality, or it can be covert, like hiring a straight person instead of someone who is openly gay. Covert discrimination is more tricky because it is harder to prove and protect against. Because of this, we hear more about overt discrimination in the media. Individual, extreme cases with obviously bigoted people draw attention away from the more common problem of subtle discrimination. In truth, covert discrimination tends to occur on a larger scale. Many people think discrimination only happens in rural areas and small towns, and only exhibited by extremists. However, discrimination is everywhere and practically everyone discriminates, intentionally or not, at some point in their lives.

Discriminating means using preconceived biases (which everyone has) about a specific group of people to make a decision that will affect one or more people in that group. It is important to recognize that everyone has biases and will use those biases to judge other people. The important thing to do is realize our tendency as humans to judge and discriminate so that we can work consciously to treat people respectfully and equally. The problem is that discrimination becomes a lot worse when there is an imbalance of power. Due to centuries of systematic oppression, the dominant groups generally have significantly more money, status, legal rights, and education than disadvantaged groups. This puts many people with privilege in positions of power, so that they can openly or subconsciously discriminate against certain groups, perpetuating a never-ending cycle of bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression.

Religious Liberty

The freedom to believe and practice a religion is an important freedom and a privilege that is not available to everyone. The concept of religious liberty helped to create the society we have today. Sadly, there are a great number of people who have decided to use their religion as a way to discriminate against those they take issue with. This is either a constitutional right or completely against the ideals of the Constitution, depending on how you interpret the document. Religious conservatives read the text to mean that citizens are free to practice their religion to the maximum possible extent, which apparently includes discriminating against individuals who do not share their views. With this perspective, it can seem as though religious liberty is under attack. However, there are many fallacies in this argument. Religious liberty has been used as an excuse for centuries to condone slavery, limit women's rights, and justify segregation. This is not to say that religion itself is bad. In fact, religion was also used to denounce slavery, liberate women, and support the Civil Rights Movement. Still, the push and pull of religious liberty and oppression is a fairly distinct pattern throughout American history. Additionally, people pick and choose which parts of a religion they want to follow. This is particularly the case for Christianity, as Jesus never once talked about homosexuality, but did very clearly and angrily condemn divorce. The Constitution protects religious freedom, but it is not a free pass to ignore the law. There are numerous laws to prevent people from using religious freedom to harm others. For instance, human sacrifice for religious reasons is still illegal. Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are both enshrined in the Constitution, and yet it is against the law to yell fire in a crowded theater or have a protest that is violent in nature. Likewise, there are laws protecting LGBTQ individuals from discrimination and harassment and those laws should be upheld regardless of personal religious beliefs.

Today, it is illegal to restrict marriages based on gender, freeing LGBTQ people to officially marry whomever they choose. This was a huge victory for the LGBTQ community. Legal marriages offer many benefits that aren't available with civil partnerships, such as tax benefits, visitation rights at hospitals and the ability to participate in medical decisions, work benefits, visiting rights in jail, inheritance rights, not to mention the invaluable knowledge that your marriage is actually official and recognized by the government. This is something that many couples have been wanting for decades and still never thought would happen. The fact that people can marry regardless of the gender of their partner is amazing progress. That said, what happened angered a lot of people, and motivated some politicians to create religious liberty bills for their states.

Employment

There are millions of LGBTQ workers and yet there is no law on the federal level to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or sexuality in the workplace. Less than half of the states have laws in place to protect LGBTQ workers from discrimination. In most of the country, it is legal to fire someone for their sexuality or gender identity. Shockingly, 87% of the population believe it is illegal to fire someone for being gay. Because of the way our legal system works, someone could get married, post their wedding pictures online, and get fired from work the next day.

Housing

Just like with employment, there is not federal non-discrimination law for housing that includes LGBTQ people. The Fair Housing Act applies to race, skin color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and family status (having children, pregnancy, etc.). If you are denied housing based on expectations or stereotypes regarding gender or sex, that counts as sex discrimination and is illegal. HIV/AIDS is also protected under the disability clause. Even if you are HIV-negative, a housing provider can't use a perceived disability as an excuse to refuse to rent to someone.

Here is some more information about the law:

US Department of Housing and Urban Development - LGBT Discrimination

Some states have additional anti-discrimination laws that do include LGBTQ individuals. Here is a map of the states with each state's anti-discrimination laws in relation to housing, employment, public accommodations, credit, and state employees:

LGBTMap - Non-Discrimination Laws

Fostering, Adoption, and Parenthood

LGBTQ individuals often face obstacles when trying to start a family. Many are wary of letting LGBTQ people near children, a fear that probably stems from the media's repeated insistence, since the 1950's, that gay men are pedophiles. This supposed link between homosexuality and pedophilia has been proven wrong many times. Pedophilia can be committed by individuals of any sex, gender, or sexuality. Thankfully, public opinion has become more reasonable on this issue, generally agreeing that pedophilia and sexuality are not connected. However, this fear is still there subconsciously for many people, prompting some well-intentioned but irrational viewpoints. People worry about children raised by LGBTQ parents becoming 'corrupted' in some way. In reality, studies have shown that the parent's sexuality or gender identity is in no way linked to the child's own sexuality and gender identity. This should be evident by the fact that most LGBTQ individuals have heterosexual, non-transgender parents. Further studies show that children of LGBTQ parents are just as happy and well-adjusted as children from more traditional families.

The stigma against the LGBTQ community has made it increasingly difficult for many individuals to adopt or foster children. In some states, it is legal to refuse to provide adoption services based on sexuality and gender identity, if doing so would conflict with the adoption agency's religious beliefs. Only a few states offer support to LGBTQ foster parents by having anti-discrimination laws that include sexual orientation and gender identity. Only four states require any kind of training in LGBTQ cultural competency.

If you have or want a child, here is a helpful website with advice for adoption, surrogacy, child-raising, school, and more:

Human Rights Campaign - Parenting

Education

LGBTQ educators are similarly stigmatized by society. Many teachers feel uncomfortable identifying as LGBTQ to their supervisor, even though they should be protected under the freedom of speech clause. There are several states where LGBTQ discrimination is legal and teachers can get fired simply for being themselves. This system forces many teachers into the closet, which, in addition to being personally upsetting, deprives LGBTQ youth from much-needed support and a possible role model. Eight states have crafted "no promo homo" laws that prohibit teachers from teaching about LGBTQ topics in a positive light, or sometimes even order teachers to use negative or inaccurate descriptions. Some of the laws are so vague the teachers are afraid to mention LGBTQ issues at all, not even to intervene in situations of bullying or harassment. These laws also restrict the level of sexual education students receive, forcing teachers to gloss over or skip talking about HIV/AIDS.

Criminal Justice System

LGBTQ people make up 7.9% of adults in prisons, as well as 7.1% of adults in jails, even though the percentage of LGBTQ adults in America is only 3.8%. More than 20% of transgender women have been in prison or jail. In juvenile detention facilities, it is estimated that 20% identify as LGBTQ. These statistics are due to a number of reasons. For example, many states criminalize LGBTQ people based on outdated science and stigma. LGBTQ people are sometimes forced into no-win situations by their families, employers, or others, leaving them homeless, penniless, and with nowhere to turn. In California, 1 in 5 transgender people in men's prisons were homeless before they were incarcerated. Many police strategies specifically target LGBTQ people, especially those of color. Some officers also abuse their power, either through misconduct, neglect, or physical or sexual abuse, and sometimes even culminating in the death of the LGBTQ individual. Within the justice system, many report their gender identity or sexual orientation being used against them in trial by judges, prosecutors, and even their own defense attorneys. Juries also can base their decisions on their personal reaction to the defendant's sexuality or gender identity, rather than judging their actual guilt or innocence. Because of this, there are disproportionately more LGBTQ people in adult correctional facilities, juvenile justice facilities, and immigration detention facilities. LGBTQ inmates are more likely to face harassment from guards and other inmates. Transgender individuals are constantly misgendered and placed in facilities inconsistent with their gender identities, and report sexual assault at much higher rates. LGBTQ individuals also are put in solitary confinement often. Even after leaving prison or jail, LGBTQ individuals encounter additional obstacles that make rebuilding their lives even more difficult. Parole, probation, and re-entry programs rarely address the discrimination LGBTQ people have to deal with when seeking housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Transgender Rights

Transgender individuals in many states are not allowed to change their gender or name on identity documents or use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. A number of right-wing politicians have introduced bills to punish individuals for using a public restroom that does not match the gender on their identification papers. The so-called "bathroom bills" were created due to the claim that it would prevent men from sexually assaulting young girls in the women's bathroom, despite the fact that sexual assault is already illegal. 18 states and over 200 cities have passed laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, including letting them use the bathroom that fits their identity. These laws have not caused any public safety incidents. On the contrary, research shows that these laws actually make things safer for transgender individuals, since many face harassment or violence when using the bathroom that matches their birth certificate instead of their identity.

If you have been discriminated against based on your real or perceived sexuality, gender identity, or HIV status, you can report it and get legal help at this link:

American Civil Liberties Union - LGBT/HIV Discrimination

Sources

“Creating a Positive Work Environment for LGBT Faculty: What Higher Education Unions Can

Do.” Faculty Diversity. American Federation of Teachers; Higher Education, 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

“Criminal Justice.” MAP. Movement Advancement Project, Feb. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

“Ending Housing Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals 

and Their Families: Enriching and Strengthening Our Nation.” HUD.gov. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

“Explore: Parenting.” HRC. Human Rights Campaign, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Herek, Gregory M. Ph.D. “Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation.” Beyond

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“LGBT Rights.” Issues. American Civil Liberties Union, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Machado, Amanda. “The Plight of Being a Gay Teacher.” The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2014. Web. 12 

Dec. 2016.

McCutcheon, Kendra DeLoach. "Discrimination." Encyclopedia of Social Work. 2014-11-03. 

NASW Press and Oxford University Press. Date of access 12 Dec. 2016

“‘No Promo Homo’ Laws.” Policy. GLSEN, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

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Report.” Education International, 4^th World Congress, agenda 7, doc. 07E, July 2014. p. 6-9.