Discrimination can occur in many different environments. Housing discrimination can keep people out of the better neighborhoods and schools in their town, while employment discrimination might cost someone their job or prevent them from ever getting a promotion.
There are many protected characteristics that employers and other parties are not legally permitted to consider when deciding who to rent a home to, promote or fire. Unfortunately, discrimination based on sexual orientation remains a common issue in the United States. As a result of that reality, members of the LGBTQ+ community often experience economic consequences due to the discrimination that they face at work and in social environments.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community report economic vulnerability
When discussing how financially stable people are, factors like how confident someone is about paying their mortgage are important considerations. In many of the top categories of economic stability, members of the LGBTQ+ community report feeling less stable than their peers. They may feel more likely to lose their jobs and more worried about covering their basic cost of living expenses. Having coworkers and employers who are hostile can make someone feel as though their job is never secure and therefore their income is never guaranteed.
Fighting discrimination benefits everyone
Those who have experienced discrimination in the workplace based on their sexual orientation may feel as though their best option is just to move on with their lives. However, holding businesses accountable for discriminatory employment practices may be the only way to prompt legitimate change at those organizations. Workers who are able to document the discrimination that they endure and who take legal action after a wrongful termination or a history of promotion discrimination may not only recover some of the financial losses they have personally suffered but could also pave the way for a better experience at the same business for other members of the LGBTQ+ community in the future.
Although there have been efforts to address discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community at the federal level, issues with discrimination remain persistent and widely reported across the country. Learning more about what constitutes discrimination and the real-world consequences of seemingly minor issues in the workplace that can have a major impact on an individual’s finances and the future of countless others at the company where a particular individual works.