Recently in LGBT Category

Source: Alison M. Smith, Congressional Research Service (CRS), RL31994, May 9, 2012

The recognition of same-sex marriages generates debate on both the federal and state levels. Either legislatively or judicially, same-sex marriage is legal in seven states. Other states allow civil unions or domestic partnerships, which grant all or part of state-level rights, benefits, and/or responsibilities of marriage. Some states have statutes or constitutional amendments limiting marriage to one man and one woman. These variations raise questions about the validity of such unions outside the contracted jurisdiction and have bearing on the distribution of federal benefits.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), P.L. 104-199, prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows individual states to refuse to recognize such marriages performed in other states. ...This report discusses DOMA and legal challenges to it. It reviews legal principles applied to determine the validity of a marriage contracted in another state and surveys the various approaches employed by states to enable or to prevent same-sex marriage. The report also examines House and Senate resolutions introduced in previous Congresses proposing a constitutional amendment and limiting federal courts' jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of DOMA.

Source: Leslie Paul Machado, IPMA-HR News, Vol. 78 no. 1, January 2012
(subscription required)(scroll down)

There is a tendency among many employers to think of transgender issues as "someone else's problem," an issue not likely to affect their own organizations. That's a misconception, and it's as prevalent among public sector organizations as it is among private businesses. Several recent cases bear witness to this fact....Rather than isolated decisions, these cases may be part of a larger trend in which courts are increasingly holding employers liable under Title VII for alleged discrimination against transgender employees.

Source: Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2011

From the press release:
With no federal nondiscrimination law and limited state protections, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index (CEI) has helped transform the American workplace for the better over the past ten years. Released today, the 2012 CEI chronicles the remarkable advances that have taken place on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality (LGBT) in the workplace since 2002. In the first year of the CEI, only 13 businesses achieved a top score. This year, 190 corporations, across industries, geographies and size, will receive a 100 percent score on significantly more stringent criteria, including 10 of the top 20 Fortune-ranked companies. As companies compete to recruit and retain the best employees and influence consumer choices, CEI ratings have redefined the norm for how all companies treat LGBT workers and their families. The result is that the lives of millions of LGBT Americans have been made exponentially better, public acceptance of issues important to LGBT people has soared and both public and private employers of all sizes have voluntarily adopted inclusive policies.

This year's report's findings:
- While the inclusion of sexual orientation in non-discrimination policies has become a standard since 2002, the addition of gender identity is now part of the policies of 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies for the first time, a growth rate of 1567 percent since 2002.
- The number of Fortune 500 companies offering domestic partnership benefits has increased by 76 percent since 2002.
- The greatest strides have come in area of transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage. As a result of new criteria instituted by HRC this year that is a requisite to a perfect score, companies offering comprehensive healthcare coverage to their transgender workers has increased to 207 from 85 last year and 49 in 2009.

Source: Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen, Hyun-Jun Kim, Charles A. Emlet, Anna Muraco, Elena A. Erosheva, Charles P. Hoy-Ellis, Jayn Goldsen, Heidi Petry, Institute for Multigenerational Health, 2011

From the press release:
Aging and health issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender baby boomers have been largely ignored by services, policies and research. These seniors face higher rates of disability, physical and mental distress and a lack of access to services, according to the first study on aging and health in these communities.

The study, released Nov. 16 and led by Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen and colleagues at the University of Washington's School of Social Work, indicates that prevention and intervention strategies must be developed to address the unique needs of these seniors, whose numbers are expected to double to more than 4 million by 2030.

The study highlights how these adults have unique circumstances, such as fear of discrimination and often the lack of children to help them. Senior housing, transportation, legal services, support groups and social events were the most commonly cited services needed in the LGBT community, according to the study.
See also:
Executive summary

Source: Brad Sears and Christy Mallory, Williams Institute, July 2011

This study analyzes discrimination complaints filed with administrative agencies in those states that prohibit sexual orientation discrimination, adjusting the filings by the number of LGB employees in each state that work in each sector. Overall, the study finds that sexual orientation complaint filings are slightly lower, but similar, for employees in the public sector when compared to the private sector. The filing rate for state and local employees is 3 for every 10,000 LGB employees compared to 4 for every 10,000 LGB employees in the private sector. Currently, there are not enough data to do a similar analysis of gender identity discrimination complaints and federal employees are not covered by these state anti-discrimination statutes.
See also:
Press release

Source: David M. Frost, Keren Lehavot, Ilan H. Meyer, Williams Institute, August 2011

New research shows that lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB) are at increased risk for physical health problems due to prejudice-related stress. On August 5, 2011, findings from the new report, "Minority Stress and Physical Health Among Sexual Minorities," written by David M. Frost, Keren Lehavot, and Ilan H. Meyer, will be presented at the American Psychological Association's annual conference in Washington, DC. The researchers found that LGB people who had experienced prejudice-related major life events were about three times more likely to have suffered a serious physical health problem over a one-year follow-up period than those who had not experienced such events.. The effects of prejudice-related events remained statistically significant even after controlling for the experience of other stressful events, as well as other factors known to affect physical health, such as age, gender, employment, and lifetime health history.
See also:
Press release

Source: Brad Sears and Christy Mallory, Williams Institute, July 2011

Although sexual orientation and gender identity have no relationship to workplace performance, during the past four decades a large body of research using a variety of methodologies has consistently documented high levels of discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered (LGBT) people at work. Evidence of discrimination has been reviewed and summarized in two recent reports by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law: a 2009 report focused on discrimination in the public sector and a 2007 report focused on employment discrimination in the private sector . This review excerpts key findings from those reports and updates those findings with results from recent studies. In addition, it presents for the first time, data documenting discrimination against LGB employees from the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS), a national probability survey representative of the U.S. population. The GSS data show that over one in four LGBT employees report discriminatory treatment in the workplace in past the five years, and over one-third are not out to anyone at work.

Source: Jody L. Herman, Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, April 2011

From the press release:
A new research study released today by The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy shows that employment discrimination against transgender residents of Massachusetts likely costs the Commonwealth millions of dollars each year. These costs are the result of reduced income tax revenue, expenditures on public assistance programs, and other costs. The added cost to the Commonwealth for public health insurance coverage alone is $3 million annually due to employment discrimination against transgender workers.... In calculating the cost to the Commonwealth, the study estimates that 6,600 Massachusetts residents have lost a job, 12,900 were not hired for a job, and 5,600 were denied a promotion, all due to due to anti-transgender bias. Furthermore, 15 percent of surveyed transgender Massachusetts residents made $10,000 or less in annual household income, whereas only 3 percent of the Massachusetts general population made this amount.

Source: Gary J. Gates, Williams Institute, April 2011

Drawing on information from four recent national and two state-level population-based surveys, the analyses suggest that there are more than 8 million adults in the US who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, comprising 3.5% of the adult population. There are also nearly 700,000 transgender individuals in the US. In total, the study suggests that approximately 9 million Americans - roughly the population of New Jersey - identify as LGBT. Key findings from the study include among adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, bisexuals comprise a slight majority (1.8% compared to 1.7% who identify as lesbian or gay); women are substantially more likely than men to identify as bisexual; estimates of those who report any lifetime same-sex sexual behavior and any same-sex sexual attraction are substantially higher than estimates of those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. An estimated 19 million Americans (8.2%) report that they have engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and nearly 25.6 million Americans (11%) acknowledge at least some same-sex sexual attraction.

Source: National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, March 31, 2011

From the abstract:
At a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals--often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBT--are becoming more visible in society and more socially acknowledged, clinicians and researchers are faced with incomplete information about their health status. While LGBT populations often are combined as a single entity for research and advocacy purposes, each is a distinct population group with its own specific health needs. Furthermore, the experiences of LGBT individuals are not uniform and are shaped by factors of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical location, and age, any of which can have an effect on health-related concerns and needs. Researchers still have a great deal to learn and face a number of challenges in understanding the health needs of LGBT populations.

To help assess the state of the science, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) asked the IOM to evaluate current knowledge of the health status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations; to identify research gaps and opportunities; and to outline a research agenda to help NIH focus its research in this area. The IOM finds that to advance understanding of the health needs of all LGBT individuals, researchers need more data about the demographics of these populations, improved methods for collecting and analyzing data, and an increased participation of sexual and gender minorities in research. Building a more solid evidence base for LGBT health concerns will not only benefit LGBT individuals, but also add to the repository of health information we have that pertains to all people.
See also:
- Report Brief
- Press Release