Executive Summary
Approximately 23.5 million adults in the United States work in the public sector, including 14.9 million local government employees, 5 million state employees, and over 3 million federal civilian employees. In addition, 1.3 million adults in the U.S. serve in the active military. Using a survey of 1,902 LGBTQ adults in the workforce conducted in the summer of 2023, this report examines experiences of employment discrimination and harassment against LGBTQ people who are employed in the public sector—including local, state, and federal government employees and those actively serving in the U.S. armed forces. We compare the experiences of public sector LGBTQ employees with those who work in the private and non-profit sectors.
Over one in 10 (11%) LGBTQ adults in the U.S. workforce are employed in the public sector, almost half (47%) of whom are LGBTQ people of color. LGBTQ women in the workforce are more likely to work in the public sector than men (14% vs. 7%).
While LGBTQ adults in the public, private, and non-profit sectors share many similarities in terms of demographics and socio-economic status, public sector LGBTQ employees are younger, more likely to be cisgender women, and more likely to have a college degree than those in the private sector. Almost two-thirds (65%) of LGBTQ adults working in the public sector are between the ages 18 and 34 compared to half (51%) of those in the private sector. Two-thirds of LGBTQ adults who work in the public sector are cisgender and transgender women (67%) compared with half of LGBTQ employees in the private sector (49%). While 61% of LGBTQ public sector employees have a bachelor’s degree or post-bachelor’s education, only 42% of those working in the private sector do.
Our analysis indicates that employment discrimination against LGBTQ employees in the public, private, and non-profit sectors is persistent and widespread and shares similar patterns. Approximately 42% of LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, not promoted) or harassment (including being verbally, physically, or sexually harassed) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
Within the past year, approximately one in ten (11%) LGBTQ public sector employees reported that they had been fired, not hired, or not promoted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and 14% reported experiencing at least one form of harassment at work.
Public sector LGBTQ employees were less likely than those in the private sector to report that the discrimination and harassment they experienced was motivated by religion (40% v. 51%). They were also less likely to report that they were out to their supervisor (45%) than those in the non-profit (61%) sector—and out to all their coworkers (22%) than those in the private sector (33%).
Due to adverse workplace experiences, 30% of LGBTQ public sector employees reported that they had left a job because of how they were treated based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, including 9% who had left a job for that reason in the prior year.
While the key findings of the report are summarized below, the full report includes quotes from LGBTQ public sector employees to illustrate their experiences of discrimination and harassment in the workplace and suggest areas for future research.
Key Findings
Demographics
- About two-thirds (65%) of LGBTQ employees in the public sector are under the age of 35, and 80% are under the age of 45. By comparison, 51% of LGBTQ employees in the private sector are under the age of 35, and 69% are under the age of 45.
- Almost two-thirds of LGBTQ public sector employees identify as bisexual (66%), while 19% identify as lesbian and 11% identify as gay. Less than 4% selected either something else, “not sure,” or straight to describe their sexual orientation.
- Nine percent of LGBTQ public sector employees identified as transgender (4%) or nonbinary (5%).
- Almost half of LGBTQ public sector employees are people of color (47%), including 25% who identify as Latinx, 14% who identify as Black, 5% who identify as Asian American, and 4% who identify as another race or multiracial.
- Two-thirds of LGBTQ public sector employees are cisgender and transgender women (67%) compared to half (49%) of LGBTQ private sector employees.
- Put differently, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women are twice as likely to work in the public sector as gay, bisexual, and transgender men (14% vs. 7%).
- More specifically, lesbians (15%) and bisexual women (14%) are approximately three times as likely to work in the public sector as gay men (5%).
- While 61% of LGBTQ adults working in the public sector have a bachelor’s degree or post-bachelor’s education, only 42% of those working in the private sector do. Over one in four LGBTQ public sector employees has more than a bachelor’s education (27%) compared to just 12% of those working in the private sector.
- Similar to LGBTQ employees in other sectors, almost half (45%) of LGBTQ public sector employees reported making less than $50,000 a year.
Lifetime Experiences of Discrimination and Harassment
- More than four in ten (42%) LGBTQ public sector 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 at some point in their lives.
- Discrimination: About one-third (32%) of LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing at least one form of employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, not promoted, or experiencing other unequal treatment in workplace benefits or opportunities) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
- About one in five LGBTQ public sector employees reported being fired (19%), not being hired (24%), or not being promoted (21%) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- LGBTQ public sector employees also described other types of unfair treatment based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Some of these experiences included being isolated from other employees, clients, or students in their workplaces because of their LGBTQ status.
- Harassment: More than one-third (36%) of LGBTQ public sector 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.
- Twenty-nine percent of LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing verbal harassment from supervisors or coworkers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including being called names, being misgendered, and being harassed for not conforming to traditional binary gender or gender stereotypes.
- Fifteen percent of LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing physical harassment at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- One in five (20%) of LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing sexual harassment at work.
- Negative comments in the workplace: Beyond how they have been personally treated, 70% of LGBTQ public sector employees had heard negative comments about LGBTQ people in the workplace.
- Discrimination: About one-third (32%) of LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing at least one form of employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, not promoted, or experiencing other unequal treatment in workplace benefits or opportunities) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
- Religious motivation for adverse treatment: While four out of ten LGBTQ public sector employees reported that the discrimination and harassment that they experienced in the workplace was motivated by religion, they were less likely to report a religious motivation for their treatment than those in the private sector (40% v. 51%).
Intersectional Discrimination and Harassment
- When asked to describe their worst experiences of discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, some LGBTQ public sector employees described intersectional discrimination based on their multiple marginalized identities. In addition to discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, they described discrimination related to or based on their race/ethnicity, disability, religion, and gender expression.
Recent Experiences of Discrimination and Harassment
- Nearly one in five (18%) LGBTQ public sector employees reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment in the past year, and nearly one in three (32%) reported discrimination or harassment in the past five years.
- Discrimination: One in ten (11%) LGBTQ public sector 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 in five (23%) reported these experiences in the past five years.
- Harassment: Fourteen percent of LGBTQ public sector 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 over one-fourth (27%) reported these experiences in the past five years.
- Negative comments: Forty percent of LGBTQ public sector employees reported hearing negative comments about LGBTQ people in the workplace in the past year, and 58% reported hearing such 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 LGBTQ public sector employees felt that their current workplace environment was somewhat or very supportive of LGBTQ employees, while 10% felt the environment was somewhat or very unsupportive.
- Almost three-fourths (74%) of LGBTQ public sector employees were somewhat or very satisfied with their current job, while 14% were somewhat or very dissatisfied with their current job.
- Twenty-nine percent of LGBTQ public sector employees reported one or more adverse workplace experiences related to their sexual orientation or gender identity at their current jobs.
Out at Work
- LGBTQ public sector employees were less likely to report that they were out to their supervisor (45%) than those in the non-profit sector (61%).
- LGBTQ public sector employees were also less likely to report that they were out to all their coworkers (22%) than those in the private sector (33%).
- One in four LGBTQ public sector employees (25%) reported that they were not out to any of their coworkers.
Covering
- Two-thirds of LGBTQ public sector employees (66%) reported engaging in covering behaviors at their current job in order to avoid discrimination or harassment related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Approximately one-fifth to one-fourth of LGBTQ public sector employees reported changing how they dressed (21%), changing their physical appearance (26%), or changing their voice or mannerisms (27%) at work in order to avoid discrimination or harassment.
- LGBTQ public sector employees were more likely to report that they changed their appearance at work (26%) to avoid discrimination and harassment than those in the private sector (18%).
- LGBTQ public sector employees also reported avoiding work events and travel (24%) and avoiding work-related social events (36%) in order to avoid discrimination or harassment.
- Many LGBTQ public sector employees have not involved their families in their professional lives in order to avoid discrimination and harassment. Nearly four in ten (39%) avoided talking about their family at work, 29% have not displayed photos of their partner or family at work, and 28% have not brought family to work events.
- LGBTQ public sector employees were more likely to report not talking about their families at work (39%) to avoid discrimination and harassment than those in the private sector (28%).
Retention
- Due to adverse workplace experiences, 30% of LGBTQ public sector employees reported that they had left a job at some point in their lives because of how they were treated based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, including 9% who had left a job for that reason in the prior year.
- Thirty-seven percent of LGBTQ public sector employees reported looking for other jobs because of how they were personally treated by their employer based on their LGBTQ status, and 40% reported looking for other jobs due to their workplace environment being unsupportive of LGBTQ people in general.
- Due to the workplace environment for LGBTQ people at their current public sector job, nearly one in five LGBTQ public sector employees (18%) reported they had considered leaving. Of those, over two-thirds (68%) reported they had already taken steps towards finding another job.