Workplace Experiences of Latinx LGBTQ Employees

Executive Summary

This report examines experiences of employment discrimination and harassment against Latinx1 LGBTQ adults using a survey of 1,902 LGBTQ adults in the workforce, including 338 Latinx LGBTQ adults, conducted in the summer of 2023. We compare the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ employees with those of White, Black, and Asian LGBTQ employees.

The majority of Latinx LGBTQ adults in the workforce were under age 35 (65%), and over one-tenth identified as transgender or nonbinary (12%). Nearly half (48%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees in the workforce were making less than $50,000 a year.

Our analysis indicates that employment discrimination against Latinx LGBTQ employees is persistent and widespread. More than half of Latinx LGBTQ employees (58%) 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 or gender identity at some point in their lives.

Many Latinx LGBTQ employees reported recent experiences of discrimination and harassment. Within the past year, 16% of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported that they had been fired, not hired, or not promoted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and 20% reported experiencing at least one form of harassment at work.

Many Latinx LGBTQ employees also reported engaging in actions to avoid discrimination and harassment, including hiding their LGBTQ identity and changing their appearance or behaviors. Nearly half (46%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees were not out to their current supervisor, and 18% were not out to any of their co-workers. More than two-thirds (69%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported downplaying their LGBTQ status at work by doing one or more of the following: changing their speech, mannerisms, appearance, or how they dress at work; avoiding work social events; or not talking about their outside activities at work.

More than 40% of Latinx LGBTQ employees have looked for another job because of how they were treated based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at work (44%), and 41% reported leaving a job because of such treatment. Due to the workplace environment for LGBTQ people in general at their current job, one in five Latinx LGBTQ employees (21%) reported they considered leaving, with three-fourths (75%) of these employees taking steps towards finding another job.

Along most measures of adverse workplace experiences, Latinx LGBTQ employees reported higher rates of adverse experiences than White LGBTQ employees. While the key findings of the report are summarized below, the full report includes quotes from Latinx LGBTQ employees to provide more detail about their experiences of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

Key Findings

Demographics

• About two-thirds (65%) of Latinx LGBTQ adults in the workforce were under the age of 35, and 82% were under the age of 45.
• Twelve percent of Latinx LGBTQ adults in the workforce identified as transgender (5%) or nonbinary (7%).
• Sixty-two percent of Latinx LGBTQ adults in the workforce identified as bisexual, and 34% identified as lesbian or gay. Less than 4% selected either something else, “not sure,” or straight to describe their sexual orientation.
• Almost six in 10 Latinx LGBTQ adults in the workforce did not have a bachelor’s degree (59%), and nearly half were making less than $50,000 a year (48%), with 16% making less than $25,000 a year.

Lifetime Experiences of Discrimination and Harassment

• More than half (58%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment, including being fired, not hired, not promoted, or verbally, physically, or sexually harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • Discrimination: Nearly half (46%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing at least one form of employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, not promoted, or other unequal treatment in workplace benefits or opportunities) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
    • Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity than White LGBTQ employees at some point in their lives (46% v. 27%).
    • About three in 10 Latinx LGBTQ employees reported being fired (31%), not hired (33%), and/or not promoted (30%) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. By comparison, among White LGBTQ employees, 15% had been fired, 17% had not been hired, and 18% had not been promoted because of their LGBTQ status at some point in their lives.
    • Latinx LGBTQ employees also described other types of unfair treatment based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Some of these experiences included having their shifts changed or their hours reduced, being isolated from other employees or customers, and being excluded from company events.
  • Harassment: Forty-five percent of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing at least one form of harassment (verbal, physical, or sexual harassment) at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
    • Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to report experiencing harassment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives than White LGBTQ employees (45% v. 33%).
    • Over one-third (36%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees, compared to 26% of White LGBTQ employees, reported experiencing verbal harassment from supervisors or co-workers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, citing examples of name-calling, being misgendered, or harassed for not conforming to traditional binary gender or gender stereotypes.
    • Over one in five (22%) Latinx LGBTQ employees, compared to 13% of White LGBTQ employees, reported experiencing physical harassment at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including being “abused,” “attacked,” and “choked.”
    • One-quarter (26%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing sexual harassment at work, compared to 19% of White LGBTQ employees.
• Beyond how they have been personally treated, three-fourths of Latinx LGBTQ employees (75%) had heard negative comments about LGBTQ people in the workplace.

Intersectional Discrimination and Harassment

• When asked to describe their worst experiences of discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, many Latinx LGBTQ employees described intersectional discrimination based on their multiple marginalized identities. In addition to discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and their race/ethnicity, they described discrimination related to or based on a disability, pregnancy, religion, and gender expression.

Recent Experiences of Discrimination and Harassment

• One in four (26%) Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment in the past year, and 44% reported discrimination or harassment in the past five years.
  • Discrimination: One in six (16%) Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, or being denied a promotion or other workplace opportunities) based on their sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year and one-third (33%) reported these experiences in the past five years.
    • Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity than White LGBTQ employees in the past year (16% v. 7%) and in the past five years (33% v. 15%).
    • In the past year, Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely than White LGBTQ employees to report being fired (9% vs. 3%), not being hired (10% vs. 4%), and being denied a promotion or other workplace opportunities (9% vs. 4%).
  • Harassment: One in five (20%) Latinx LGBTQ employees reported experiencing harassment (including verbal, physical, or sexual harassment) in the workplace based on their sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year, and one-third (33%) reported these experiences in the past five years.
    • Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to experience harassment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity than White LGBTQ employees in the past year (20% v. 9%) and in the past five years (33% v. 19%).
    • In the past year, Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely than White LGBTQ employees to report verbal harassment (14%% vs. 7%), physical harassment (8% vs. 3%), and sexual harassment (9% vs. 4%).
  • Negative comments: About half (46%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported hearing negative comments about LGBTQ people in the workplace in the past year, and about two-thirds (65%) reported hearing negative comments in the past five years.

Experiences at Current Job

• Employees were asked specifically about their experiences at their current jobs. Less than two-thirds (62%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees felt that their current workplace environment was somewhat or very supportive of LGBTQ employees. In comparison, 16% felt the environment was somewhat or very unsupportive. These percentages mirrored those who expressed job satisfaction (67%) and dissatisfaction (18%) with their current jobs.
• About one-third (32%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported one or more adverse workplace experiences related to their sexual orientation or gender identity at their current jobs.
  • Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to report adverse workplace experiences at their current job than White LGBTQ employees (32% v. 20%).
  • Compared to White LGBTQ employees, Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to report being treated unfairly (22% vs. 13%) or sexually harassed (8% vs. 5%), more than twice as likely to report being verbally harassed (18% vs. 8%) or being denied a promotion (14% vs. 5%), and five times as likely to report being physically harassed or assaulted (5% vs. 1%).

Out at Work

• Nearly half (46%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported that they were not open about being LGBTQ to their current supervisor, and 18% reported that they were not out to any of their co-workers.
• Less than one-third (31%) of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported that they were out to all their co-workers.

Covering

• Nearly 70% of Latinx LGBTQ employees (69%) reported engaging in covering behaviors at their current jobs in order to avoid discrimination or harassment related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • Over one-quarter of Latinx LGBTQ employees reported changing how they dressed (28%), changing their physical appearance (27%), or changing their voice or mannerisms (33%) at work in order to avoid discrimination or harassment.
  • Latinx LGBTQ employees also reported avoiding work events and travel (28%) and avoiding work-related social events (42%) in order to avoid discrimination or harassment.
  • Many Latinx LGBTQ employees have not involved their families in their professional lives in order to avoid discrimination and harassment. One-third (33%) avoided talking about their family at work, 35% have not displayed photos of their partner or family, and 30% have not brought family to work events.
  • Latinx LGBTQ employees (69%) were more likely to engage in covering behaviors than White LGBTQ employees (54%), Black LGBTQ employees (58%), and Asian LGBTQ employees (48%).

Retention

• About 40 percent of Latinx LGBTQ employees (41%) reported that they left a job at some point in their lives because of how their employer treated them based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Forty-four percent reported looking for other jobs because of how they were personally treated by their employer based on their LGBTQ status, and 46% reported looking for other jobs due to their workplace environment being unsupportive of LGBTQ people in general.
• Latinx LGBTQ employees were more likely to say they had left a job or considered leaving than White LGBTQ employees. Among White LGBTQ employees, around one-third said they had left a job due to personal treatment based on their LGBTQ status (30%), looked for another job due to personal treatment (32%), or looked for another job due to the workplace environment for LGBTQ people in general (36%).
• Due to the workplace environment for LGBTQ people at their current job, one in five Latinx LGBTQ employees (21%) reported they considered leaving. Of those, three-fourths (75%) reported taking steps towards finding another job. By comparison, only one in ten (11%) White LGBTQ employees said they considered leaving their current jobs due to the workplace environment for LGBTQ people. Among them, 61% had taken steps towards leaving.

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