• The vast majority of Americans (73% according to the latest poll by the Center for American Progress) believe that workers should be treated fairly and equally and that no one should be fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance. Yet LGBT people continue to face pervasive discrimination in the workplace.
• According to an analysis of the 2008 General Social Survey by the Williams Institute, more than one-in-four lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees (27%) reported experiencing employment discrimination based on their sexual orientation in the past five years.
• The National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that 50% of transgender employees had been harassed at work.
  

Limited Federal Protections

• There is no federal law explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Decisions by a number of federal courts, as well the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), however, indicate that transgender people are protected by federal sex discrimination laws.

Some States with Protections

• Only a minority of states have legislation that protects workers for being unfairly fired just because they are transgender, though a small majority of states protect workers who are gay.
• In remaining states, advocates are working to pass nondiscrimination laws. At the federal level, advocates are working to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect workers across the country from unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Local Advocacy

• At the local level, advocates are working with cities and counties to pass non-discrimination ordinances that prohibit employment discrimination by local governments and businesses.
• An estimated 133 cities and counties in states that lack legislation protecting LGBT workers have passed such ordinances.

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