Report

Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Wyoming

September 2017

Wyoming’s civil rights laws do not include sexual orientation or gender identity, leaving LGBT people in the state vulnerable to discrimination. Adding these characteristics to Wyoming’s existing laws would provide protections to LGBT people and would not be costly or burdensome for the state to enforce.

Highlights
Discrimination against LGBT people in Wyoming has been documented in surveys, public testimony, administrative complaints, court cases, and the media.
Many LGBT people in Wyoming experience economic instability.
Public opinion in Wyoming supports the passage of non-discrimination protections for LGBT people.
Data Points
15,100
LGBT adults live in Wyoming
8,700
LGBT people aged 16+ are in Wyoming’s workforce
Report

Executive Summary

Over 4% of American adults identify as LGBT. Approximately 15,100 LGBT adults live in Wyoming. Wyoming does not have a statewide law that expressly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

This report summarizes evidence of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in Wyoming, explains the current protections from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the state, and estimates the administrative impact of adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s existing non-discrimination laws.

Key Findings

LGBT People in Wyoming Report Experiencing Discrimination and Harassment in Employment, Housing, Public Accommodations, and Other Settings 

  • An estimated 15,100 LGBT adults live in Wyoming. There are nearly 8,700 LGBT people aged 16 and older in Wyoming’s workforce.1
  • Survey data indicate that discrimination against LGBT people occurs in Wyoming. In response to one recent survey of LGBT people in Wyoming, more than one-third of respondents reported that they had experienced workplace harassment and one quarter said they had experienced employment discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.2 Another survey of LGB people in Wyoming found that 29% of respondents reported that they had been discriminated against in employment opportunities; 20% reported that they had been terminated from a job, and 17% reported they had experienced housing discrimination because of their sexual orientation.3
  • In addition, aggregated data from two large public opinion polls conducted between 2011 and 2013 found that 78% of Wyoming residents thought that LGBT people experienced discrimination in the state.4 Another public opinion poll conducted in 2016 found that 56% of Wyoming residents thought that gay and lesbian people experienced a lot of discrimination in the U.S. and 55% of Wyoming residents thought that transgender people experienced a lot of discrimination in the U.S.5
  • National survey data on discrimination against LGBT people are consistent with data from Wyoming. For example, a national survey of LGBT people conducted by Pew Research Center in 2013 found that 21% of respondents said that they had been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay, or promotions and 23% had received poor service at a restaurant, hotel, or other places of business because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.6
  • When transgender people are surveyed separately, they report similar or higher levels of discrimination. For example, the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest survey of transgender and gender non-conforming people in the U.S. to date, found that 27% of respondents reported being fired, denied a promotion, or not being hired for a job they applied for in the year prior to the survey because of their gender identity; 23% of respondents reported experiencing some form of housing discrimination in the year prior to the survey because of their gender identity, and 31% reported experiencing some form of mistreatment in a place of public accommodation in the year prior to the survey because of their gender identity.7
  • Reports of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Wyoming have also been documented in administrative complaints, lawsuits, reports to community-based organizations, and the media.

LGBT People in Wyoming Experience Socioeconomic Disparities

  • Research has linked greater socioeconomic disparities for LGBT people to region, a lack of legal protections from discrimination, and less supportive social attitudes toward LGBT people. Data indicate that LGBT people in Wyoming experience socioeconomic disparities compared to their non-LGBT counterparts. Nearly one-third of LGBT adults (32%) in Wyoming reported having an annual household income below $24,000 compared to 18% of non-LGBT adults.

Local Governments, Private Employers, and Public Universities in Wyoming Have Made Efforts to Protect LGBT People from Discrimination and Harassment, but Coverage Is Incomplete

  • Laramie is the only locality in Wyoming with a broad local ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Two other localities, Cheyenne and Jackson, have policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity against their own city government employees.
  • Laramie’s non-discrimination ordinance protects approximately 6% of Wyoming’s adult population and workforce from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • At least four of the large private sector employers in Wyoming – Halliburton, Rio Tinto Energy, Lowe’s, and Walmart – prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, the University of Wyoming prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Public Opinion in Wyoming Supports the Passage of Non-Discrimination Protections for LGBT People

  • In response to a statewide poll conducted in 2014, 62% of respondents said that they were in favor of adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Wyoming’s employment non-discrimination law.8
  • In response to a national poll conducted in 2011, 69% of those polled in Wyoming said that Congress should pass a federal law to prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.9

A Statewide Law Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Wyoming Would Not Be Administratively Burdensome or Costly to Enforce

  • Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s non-discrimination law would result in approximately four additional complaints being filed with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services each year.
  • The additional four complaints of discrimination could likely be absorbed into the existing system with no need for additional staff and negligible costs.

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Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Wyoming

These estimates were reached by applying the percentage of people in Wyoming that are LGBT (3.3%) to the adult population of Wyoming (457,750) and the percentage of people in Wyoming’s workforce that are LGBT (2.8%) to the number of people in the Wyoming labor force aged 16 and older (310,369), respectively. Special analysis of LGBT population and LGBT participation in the workforce by Dr. Shoshana Goldberg under Dr. Kerith Conron’s licensing agreement using data from the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll (2012-2017) (on file with authors); American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, 2015 ACS Table DP03: Selected Economic Characteristics, 1-Year Estimates.

HRC Staff, Enhanced Plans to Achieve LGBT Equality in Wyoming, HRC.org, Sept. 18, 2014, http://www.hrc.org/blog/enhanced-plans-to-achieve-lgbt-equality-in-wyoming.

Cathy Connolly & Gail Leedy, Out in the Cowboy State: A Look at Gay and Lesbian Lives in Wyoming, 19 J. Gay & Lesbian Soc. Serv’s. 17, 25 (2006), http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Leedy_Gail_2006_Out_in_the_cowboy.pdf. The study asked participants to rank the level of discrimination they had experienced in each area from no discrimination to a high level of discrimination. Those respondents indicating that they had experienced a “moderate” or “high level” of discrimination are included in the percentages reporting discrimination in this report.

Andrew Flores & Scott Barclay, Williams Institute Analysis based on public opinion data from Evaluations of Government and Society Study, Survey 3 (2011) & Survey 4 (2012) and Pew Research Center Poll (2013) (data and calculations on file with author).

PRRI, American Values Atlas: Wyoming, http://ava.prri.org/#discrimination/2016/States/trnsdis/m/US-WY (under dropdown menu for “Select Question” select “Discrimination against gay and lesbian people” or “Discrimination against transgender people;” under dropdown menu for “Select Response” select “Yes;” under dropdown menu for “Year” select “2016”).

A Survey of LGBT Americans: Attitudes, Experiences and Values in Changing Times, Pew Research Center, June 13, 2013, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/06/13/a-survey-of-lgbt-americans/.

Sandy James et al., 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey 11, 12, 14 (2016), http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/USTS-Full-Report-FINAL.PDF.

Laura Hancock, New Coalition Pushes Anti-Discrimination Law for Wyoming, CASPER STAR TRIBUNE, Jan. 8, 2015, http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/new-coalition-pushes-anti-discrimination-law-forwyoming/article_7b8d2cc6-5156-5d7e-bed4-89833335c1a3.html.

Andrew Flores & Scott Barclay, Williams Institute Analysis based on public opinion data from Public Religion Research Institute Survey (2011) (data and calculations on file with author).