A new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that more than six in 10 (62%) gender-nonconforming (GNC) cisgender LGBQ employees reported experiencing discrimination or harassment at work — including being fired, not hired, not promoted, or verbally, physically, or sexually harassed — because of their sexual orientation at some point in their lives, compared with 41% of their gender-conforming LGBQ peers.
The American Psychological Association defines gender conformity as the extent to which a person’s gender expression “diverges from societal stereotypes for their sex assigned at birth.” This study measured gender nonconformity based on how respondents believed others perceived their gender expression.
Researchers analyzed survey data collected from 1,902 LGBTQ employees in the summer of 2023 to examine workplace experiences of discrimination and harassment across levels of gender conformity. The study compares the experiences of GNC cisgender LGBQ employees with their gender-conforming counterparts, drawing on a broader dataset that also included transgender and nonbinary respondents.
GNC cisgender LGBQ employees are also more likely to be out in the workplace. Two-thirds (68%) of GNC cisgender LGBQ employees reported being out as LGBQ to their supervisor, compared with only half (50%) of those who were gender conforming. Almost half (47%) of GNC cisgender LGBQ employees reported that they were out to all their coworkers compared with 28% of those who were gender conforming.
GNC cisgender LGBQ employees were also more likely than gender-conforming peers (66% vs. 55%) to engage in “covering” behaviors, such as altering their dress, voice, and mannerisms, to avoid sexual orientation discrimination.
“Gender-nonconforming LGBQ people are a particularly vulnerable and marginalized group in the workplace,” said lead author Neko Michelle Castleberry, Research Data Analyst at the Williams Institute. “Many are not bringing their full selves to work and face unsupportive workplace environments, which need more robust monitoring and enforcement to ensure GNC employees are fully protected from discrimination and harassment.”
Among GNC cisgender LGBQ employees, gay and bisexual men were more likely than lesbian and bisexual women to report facing discrimination or harassment (72% vs. 55%) at work because of their sexual orientation at some point in their lives. They were also about twice as likely to experience discrimination (23% vs. 9%) and harassment (25% vs. 13%) within the past year.
Discrimination and harassment of GNC cisgender LGBQ employees are persistent and ongoing, even after the June 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County that extended non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ employees nationwide.
About one quarter (23%) of GNC cisgender LGBQ employees reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment based on their sexual orientation in the past year, compared to 12% of gender-conforming employees.
Experiences of discrimination and harassment, as well as unsupportive workplace environments, are leading many GNC cisgender LGBQ employees to leave, or consider leaving, their jobs. Almost half (48%) of GNC cisgender LGBQ employees reported that they left a job at some point in their lives because of how they were treated by their employer based on their sexual orientation.