Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Louisiana

Executive Summary

More than 4% of the American workforce identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Approximately 88,400 of these workers live in Louisiana. Louisiana does not have a statewide law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment.

This report summarizes recent evidence of sexual orientation and gender identity employment discrimination, explains the limited current protections from sexual orientation and gender identity employment discrimination in Louisiana, and estimates the administrative impact of passing a law prohibiting employment discrimination based on these characteristics in the state.

Key Findings

• In total there are approximately 117,000 LGBT adults in Louisiana, including approximately 88,400 who are part of Louisiana’s workforce.2
• Media reports and lawsuits document incidents of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination against employees in Louisiana. These include reports from bus drivers, a construction worker, a restaurant employee, a college professor, and an employee of a loan company.
• Surveys indicate that discrimination against LGBT workers is persistent and prevalent. For example, a 2015 Human Rights Campaign survey found that 47% of LGBT people had experienced employment discrimination, and a 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 21% of LGBT respondents had been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay, or promotions.
• When transgender people are surveyed separately, they report similar or higher levels of discrimination. In 2010, 78% of respondents to the largest national survey of transgender people to date reported having experienced harassment or mistreatment at work, and 47%reported having been discriminated against in hiring, promotion, or job retention because of their gender identity.
• Census data show that in Louisiana, the median income of men in same-sex couples is 18%lower than the median income of men in different-sex marriages.
• Seven localities in Louisiana provide some form of protection from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment by local ordinance or policy. Two of these localities, New Orleans and Shreveport, have broad ordinances, which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in both public and private sector employment. The other five localities’ policies protect only local government employees.
• Approximately 87% of Louisiana’s workforce is not covered by a local ordinance that prohibits sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.3
• Private companies may adopt internal non-discrimination policies to improve recruitment and retention of talented employees, to increase employee productivity and customer satisfaction, or to attract a larger customer base. At least eight large private sector employers headquartered in Louisiana have adopted internal policies prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, and at least three of those companies also prohibit gender identity discrimination. Additionally, the Louisiana State University System prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and the University of Louisiana System prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
• Public opinion in Louisiana supports the passage of non-discrimination protections for LGBT people. In response to a national poll conducted in 2011, 74% of those polled in Louisiana said that Congress should pass a federal law to prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, other polls have found that 81% of Louisiana residents think that LGBT people experience a moderate amount to a lot of discrimination in the state.
• Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s current non-discrimination law would result in approximately 41 additional complaints, on average, being filed with the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights each year.
• The anticipated new complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity could likely be absorbed into the existing system with no need for additional staff and negligible costs.

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