A new study shows that almost a quarter of workers know that LGBTQ employees are treated unfairly on the job. And almost half have heard anti-LGBTQ comments at their place of employment.
The Williams Institute and Thompson Reuters have published results that show a large percentage of Americans believe LGBTQ people are treated worse than straight people in several major aspects of modern life.
Related: Just one supportive adult cuts the chance an LGBTQ youth will attempt suicide by 40%
The survey found that approximately six percent of workers are LGBTQ people.
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More than 45 percent of all employees have heard anti-LGBTQ comments in their workplace. One in four say they know LGBTQ employees are treated unfairly. LGBTQ workers were twice as likely to feel they were treated worse on the job.
In a wider look, researchers asked about respondents’ views on discrimination in other parts of daily life.
Over a third of Americans think LGBTQ students are treated worse than their straight counterparts. Nine out of ten college-age students report hearing anti-LGBTQ comments at school.
Twenty-five percent think law enforcement officers treat LGBTQ people worse and 17 percent believe health care providers discriminate.
A 2019 meta-analysis of scientific studies found overwhelming evidence that anti-LGBTQ discrimination harms LGBTQ people’s health.
The studies all took place in the U.S. and focused on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They found that 95% of the studies showed a connection between discrimination and negative health outcomes, and 82% showed “unambiguous evidence that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is associated with harms to the health.”
And the effects weren’t minor. Discrimination was found to put LGBTQ people at risk of depression, anxiety, suicide, PTSD, and other mental health disorders.
Discrimination also increased the risk of physical conditions, including substance use. Several studies found increased levels of cortisol – a stress hormone – in LGBTQ people who had encountered discrimination, which is associated with heart disease and high blood pressure.
