LGBTQIA+ Workplace-Related Statistics

46%
of LGBTQ workers are closeted.
50% of non-LGBTQ workers reported that there are no employees at their company who are open about being LGBTQ.
1 in 5
workers have been told or had coworkers imply that they should dress more feminine or masculine.
Compared to 1 in 24 non-LGBTQ workers.
53%
of LGBTQ workers report hearing jokes about lesbian or gay people.
Only 37% of their non-LGBTQ counterparts report hearing the same jokes.

The top reason LGBTQ workers don’t tell a supervisor or Human Resources about negative comments about LGBTQ people is because they don’t think anything would be done about it and because they don't want to hurt their relationships with coworkers.

Statistics Source: 2018 Human Rights Campaign A Workplace Divided Report.

Taking Authentic Steps Towards Inclusion

Source: The Human Rights Campaign's A Workplace Divided Report.

  • Evaluate personal comfort level speaking specifically and directly to LGBTQIA+ inclusion
  • Reflect upon obligation to organization when it comes to recognizing LGBTQIA+ inclusion
  • Assess tools leadership has to communicate about corporate inclusion values – address knowledge gaps in the evolving vocabulary of LGBTQIA+ inclusion and utilize partners to bolster comfort
  • Lead conversations about unconscious bias proactively
  • Equip teams with a vocabulary around spotting unconscious bias and talking to each other and you as their manager around experiences of unconscious bias
  • Be intentional with team-building activities to ensure inclusion (i.e. ensure that they are not over-reliant on one point of bonding such as parenting, happy hours, etc.)
  • Ask yourself what informed your earliest impressions and beliefs about LGBTQIA+ identity and how you express that at work
  • Define respect for yourself and others and how you demonstrate that in workplace
  • Practice mirroring – if your colleague asks about your weekend, ask about theirs

Additional Resources

A light skinned man presents with the Pride flag behind him.

Understanding and Supporting LGBTQ+ Employees

In this training, Rhodes Perry teaches a framework on how you can engage in acts of allyship to support your LGBTQ+ colleagues. 

Creating a Trans-Inclusive Workplace

In this Harvard Business Review article, Christian N. Thoroughgood, Katina B. Sawyer, and Jennica R. Webster cover four ways organizations can provide a more trans-inclusive workplace. 

2021 IBM Striving for Authenticity Report

In this report, LGBT+ professionals in the US share their lived experience enduring discrimination—and broader inclusion—in the workplace.