MCCLATCHY: Series of panels discuss how the federal government can better protect gay people in the workplace.
MCCLATCHY: Series of panels discuss how the federal government can better protect gay people in the workplace.
More than 30 states and the District of Columbia allow marriage for same-sex couples. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have passed laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to the Human Rights Campaign. More than 430 of the Fortune 500 companies had implemented nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation, and 282 had policies that include gender identity, according to a 2013 survey by the Human Rights Campaign.
Advocates say it’s not enough, because many states do not have laws on the books. More than half of gay and lesbian individuals are still not comfortable being open about their sexual or gender identity at work, according to a 2014 national poll by the Human Rights Campaign. Nearly 47 percent of transgender people have reported some form of harassment on the job, the poll found.
