Discrimination in the Workplace among LGBT People in the United States - Report Example

Discrimination in the workplace among LGBT people in the United s Introduction Cases of discrimination at workplacesare popular worldwide and if necessary measures to curb them are not taken, their exponential rise will remain evident. There are various kinds of discrimination at various levels based on age, gender, sexual orientation of an individual, race among other factors. Despite the various laid down rules (laws) by a variety of states, this kind of illness still goes on at various workplaces. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) individuals are identified as the most susceptible group prone to this kind of ill treatment. For instance, hardworking and highly qualified Americans have either been denied job opportunities, discriminated against or even fired; the main reason being, they are lesbians, gay, bisexual or transgender (Friskopp & Silverstein, 78).This does not only affect the individual but also ends up leading to reduced productivity of the company/any institution the employee with any of these characteristic works for. Some of the ways in which these individuals are mishandled are as discussed in the subsequent paragraphs. Causes of discrimination of the LGBT in the workplace Lack of territory, federal and state laws has resulted in the escalating cases of discrimination against the American LGBTs employees. This results in such individuals lacking protection that their counterparts (workmates) who are heterosexuals have been accorded. This, to a greater extent, stimulates those discriminating against such individuals to carry on with the habit. Due to lack of such laws protecting LGBT employees in America, some individuals consider it legal to mistreat these individuals. In fact, in some States of America, it is legal to discriminate against this community of persons (LGBT). “There is no law to prevent discrimination against the LGBT community and there is no law in Michigan that prevents it…” (m.michiganradio.org/utm_referrer=#). In addition to this, the victims have nowhere to go and report this form of ill treatment but instead continue to suffer. Another reason for this form of ill treatment against the individuals in question is the failure of American heterosexual employees and employers at their respective workplaces to understand that LGBTs can perform equally well at the job or even better than individuals who fall out of this bracket of individuals. This has greatly increased the cases of discrimination against such individuals. As a result, LGBT individuals have ended up suffering because of who they are through being fired, being underpaid, being addressed abusively by their workmates, being denied job promotions even when they are qualified for the same among other kinds of workplace discrimination (Badgett, 726). Outlined in the subsequent paragraphs are some of fruits reaped from this kind of workplace discrimination in case the causes of the same are not mitigated/curbed. As a consequence of lack of laws protecting LGBT rights, a good number of these individuals have ended up being discriminated against. In one research, this was noted “anywhere from 15 percent to 43 percent of gay people have experienced some form of discrimination and harassment at the workplace. Moreover, a staggering 90 percent of transgender workers report some form of harassment on the job” (www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2011/06/02/9872/gay-and-transgender). There is sheer need to ensure that American bosses treat all employees equally without any discrimination. Employers ought to be treated based on their level of competence and/ or the quality of work they do and not on their sexual orientation as it is the case at various workplaces. (Androsiglio, iv). This will impact positively on both the individual and the company. Shared stories from the LGBT Victims Some of the LGBT Americans who have faced this form of mistreatment tell quite touching stories on how they lost their jobs and how miserable their lives have ended up. For instance, Vandy Beth Glenn, who was transgender, ended up being excommunicated from the Georgia General Assembly by her boss. The reason behind this was that her presence at the Assembly would make other employees together with other people uncomfortable because of who she was, and as if that was not enough, the manager used to tell her that her transition was unacceptable. Beth says “….over and over, he told me it was inappropriate. Then fired me. I was escorted back to my desk, told to clean it out, then marched out of the building…I was devastated.”(Herek, 56). Brook Waits, who was an employee in Dallas, Texas had a very smooth working relationship with both her manager and colleagues until it was found out that she was a lesbian. This happened when her boss saw a photo on her cell ph0one showing Waits and her girlfriend kissing one day before the New Year (Black, et al, 140). “I didn’t lose my job because I was lazy, incompetent, or unprofessional. Quite the contrary, I worked hard and did my job very well. However, this was discarded when my boss discovered I am a lesbian. In a single afternoon, I went from being a highly praised employee, to out of job”(Mays, Vickie &Cochran, 1869).Based on Brook’s statement, it is evident that her being fired did not only cost her but even the company she was working for, because as she puts is, she was competent, professional and hardworking. Michael Cartney, an officer, also has a story of this kind of discrimination. He ended up regretting for having been open with his supervisors to disclose to them that he was a gay. In stead of being appreciated for his sincerity, he ended up being denied a reinstatement in Springfield, Massachusetts as a police officer. He adds that despite him being a good cop, he had stayed out of work for a period of two and half years trying by all means to get his job back but all his efforts were in vain (McCabe et al, 1946-1952). Economic Consequences of LGBT Discrimination Individuals who are lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgender (LGBT) suffer in a big way as a result of workplace discrimination. This ends up amounting to unemployment and poverty as a result of job instability and exponential turnover among these individuals as well as the wage gap. It is revealed that apart from these individuals being fired from their former workplaces, those who are allowed to continue working receive lesser pay then their colleagues who do not any of this characteristics despite their similarity in terms of qualification. The government, various employers and individuals working with these persons ought to look at the big picture; before discriminating them, they have to be aware that in so doing, it is not just those individuals that end up being affected economically but also, the company/the institution they were working for and even America as a whole will suffer economic consequences (Badgett, 56). Firing of an individual on the basis of him/her possessing any of these characteristic (as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) will result in the person leading a hard life. The person will not be able settle the bills for his basic needs, which include food, shelter and clothing (Wetchler & Bigner, 29). In addition to this, it will also become a challenge for him/her to pay for his children’s school fees, settle hospital bills in case of illnesses including the incurrence of other inevitable expenses. This situation may push an individual too far, causing him to device other ways of surviving, such as theft, robbery, deceit among other societal illnesses (Henderson, 98). It is true that some of these LGBT individuals perform even better than other individuals who fall out of this bracket of individuals. Firing of these personnel will end up impacting negatively on the company. The gap between the time at which an individual is fired and the time at which a replacement is found will result in reduced output of the institution. In addition to this, the new staff will take some time before adapting and working effectively and more so, there is no assurance that he/she will work as good as the fired individual. In other words, if a company is really interested in profit boosting, then there is need for them to be concerned about these numbers (Lent&Brown, 109). Companies are more competitive when they hire not only very skilled but talented individuals. However, discrimination may result in the company not hiring or even firing the best staffs. Businesses with this trend end up restricting their hiring to a smaller group of individuals will in the long run lead to reduced productivity and lower profits. In addition to this, the hostile working environment will result in this individuals not performing to their optimal due to the feeling they get from both their employers and fellow employees. This will result in the unnecessary incurrence of costs to replace the qualified staff at the same time suffering from the various resulting inefficiencies. A study conducted in the United States of America revealed that the cost of replacing an employee is $4,000 (Brad et al, 38) As a consequence of lack of information , has resulted in various employees leaving out these group of people or even after hiring them, they end up mishandling them. Incidences of unemployment, discriminatory hiring and reduced wages for these individual who are discriminated against pose a serious challenge to both the business and the workers (Repa, 71). For the workers, reduced/low pay serves as a disincentive and in addition to this, an individual will not be able to further his education. This affects both the future growth of the individual and the business and eventually to a country as a whole (Harper, Gary, &Schneider, 243). Mitigation/curbing of LGBT at Workplaces There is need for the American government to come up with laws that will protect the lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees at their respective workplaces. The government has to make a follow up to ensure that employers observe these laws. Those who employ and fail to follow the laid down laws can have an action being taken against them so as to help reduce cases of this form of discrimination (Paludi, Paludi&DeSouza,16). As seen above, one of the reasons/causes of discrimination against LGBT individuals is the lack of public awareness. It is because of this that the American Bar Association has come up with a series of webinars of legal education addressing the various challenges encountered by the LGBT community. Labour and employment issues among this group of individuals in part of what this Association is concerned about. There is need for the government to fully support individuals/associations with similar agenda. This will help in reducing the incidences of this form of discrimination (Leonard & Levine, 88). Finally, it is important to appreciate the trend politics have taken as far the LGBT community is concerned. “Today, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund – the nation’s largest resource for our LGBT individuals in politics – endorsed 18 candidates for public office.” (Harper, Gary, &Schneider, 247). The president who is also the chief executive officer of the fund registers that, “Victory is proud to announce another diverse state of candidates for public office this month…..” Each one of the endorsed 18 members is meant to represent a region in the United States of America by ensuring that there is increased public representation of the LGBT. Conclusion In a nutshell, workplace discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender individuals has nothing positive worth appreciating. As seen in the discussion above, discrimination will impact negatively not only of the victim, but also to the business and eventually to the nation as a whole. This is why there is need for various strategies to be laid down to help ensure that these individuals are not discriminated against so as to ensure a smooth running of the business operations, economic stability/growth of the nation and also, good employee-employee and employee-employer relationship. There is also need for the government to fully support Associations such as the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, American Bar Association and any other organization championing for the rights of the LGBT community Work Cited Annette Friskopp, Sharon Silverstein. (2010). Straight Jobs Gay Lives. Simon and Schuster. Pages 47 – 50, 88 Badgett, MV Lee. 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