Employment discrimination against nonbinary employees is persistent and widespread, according to a new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. About six in 10 nonbinary employees (59%) have experienced discrimination or harassment at work at some point in their lives. This includes being fired, not hired, not promoted, and being subjected to verbal, physical, or sexual harassment due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Within the past year, 16% of nonbinary employees reported being fired, not hired, or not promoted due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Additionally, 20% reported experiencing harassment in the workplace.
Researchers analyzed survey data collected in the summer of 2023 to examine workplace experiences of nonbinary adults. Results show that many nonbinary employees take measures to avoid discrimination and harassment, such as concealing their nonbinary identity and changing their appearance or behaviors.
Nearly half (45%) of nonbinary employees are not out to their current supervisor, and 17% are not out to any of their co-workers. Two-thirds (67%) of nonbinary employees reported downplaying their LGBTQ status at work by changing their speech, mannerisms, appearance, or how they dress at work; avoiding work social events; or not talking about their outside activities at work.
“When you consider that the majority of nonbinary employees are under the age of 35, their lifetime experiences of discrimination and harassment are particularly high,” said lead author Brad Sears, Founding Executive Director at the Williams Institute. “Employers must pay specific attention to the workplace experiences of nonbinary workers, especially if they want to retain younger employees. Additionally, policymakers should consider issuing explicit guidance stating that federal and state nondiscrimination policies prohibiting sex and gender identity discrimination include protections for nonbinary employees.”
Additional Findings
Demographics
- About 87% of nonbinary adults in the workforce are under the age of 35, compared to 51% of cisgender LGBQ adults and 71% of transgender adults.
- About half (51%) of nonbinary adults in the workforce are people of color.
- Almost three-quarters are making less than $50,000 a year (74%), compared to less than half (48%) of cisgender LGBQ adults.
Discrimination and Harassment
- 45% of nonbinary employees reported experiencing at least one form of employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, or not promoted) based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
- Half (50%) of nonbinary employees reported experiencing at least one form of harassment at work due to their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
Avoiding Discrimination
- To avoid discrimination or harassment, about one-third of nonbinary employees reported changing how they dressed (35%), their physical appearance (35%), or their voice or mannerisms (36%) at work.
- Approximately one in five (20%) have changed where, when, or how frequently they used the bathroom.
Retention
- Two-thirds of nonbinary employees (68%) were very or somewhat satisfied with their current job, while nearly one in six (17%) were very or somewhat dissatisfied.
- Half (50%) of nonbinary employees reported that they had left a job at some point in their lives because of how their employer treated them based on their LGBTQ status.
- Due to the workplace environment for LGBTQ people at their current job, 20% of nonbinary employees had considered leaving, and almost two-thirds (65%) had taken steps towards finding another job.