Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Georgia

Summary

Georgia's state anti-discrimination law protects government employees, but not private sector workers. The law also does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. An estimated 3.5% of Georgia's workforce, or 170,000 workers, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Of these workers, approximately 7,500 work for the state government, 10,600 for local governments and 151,900 in the private sector.

This report summarizes evidence of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the public sector, explains the limited current protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace in Georgia, and estimates the administrative impact of including sexual orientation and gender identity in employment relationships Civil service of the state of Georgia a discrimination law.

Key findings

• In total, there are approximately 269,000 LGBT adults in Georgia, including 7,507 who work for the state government.
• Georgia has no statewide protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Media reports and lawsuits document incidents of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity against state government employees in Georgia, including reports from a legislative editor for the Georgia General Assembly, a professor at a public university, and an employee of the Georgia Division of Family and Child Services.
• A recent survey in Georgia reflects discrimination and negative attitudes toward LGBT people in the workplace. A 2011 survey of more than 2,000 LGBT Georgians found that 25% of respondents said they had experienced discrimination in the workplace because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and 45% of respondents said they had experienced homophobia, transphobia, or violence in the past Having experienced harassment in the workplace year.
• National surveys also confirm that discrimination against LGBT workers persists. Most recently, a 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 21% of LGBT respondents had been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion. The 2008 General Social Survey found that among LGBT public sector workers, one in five had experienced some form of discrimination.
• When transgender people are surveyed separately, they report similar or higher levels of discrimination. For example, as recently as 2010, 78% of respondents to the largest survey of transgender people to date said they had experienced harassment or mistreatment in the workplace, and 47% said they had been discriminated against in hiring, promotion or retention because of their gender Identity. Of Georgia respondents, 80% reported being harassed or mistreated at work because of their gender identity, and 34% reported losing their job.
• Wage differences are another way to traditionally measure discrimination. Studies have found that LGB public servants earn 8% to 29% less than their heterosexual counterparts.
• At least 35 localities in Georgia provide protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation in public employment through local ordinances or human resources policies. Twelve of these places also offer protection against discrimination based on gender identity. One ordinance – Atlanta's – also prohibits discrimination in private employment throughout the city. Additionally, a College Park ordinance prohibits city government contractors from discriminating against their employees based on sexual orientation.
• Approximately 70% of Georgia's local government workforce is not subject to a local ordinance or personnel policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in public employment, and approximately 94% of Georgia's local government workforce is not subject to a local ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in public employment .
• All public universities in the University System of Georgia have policies prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Several public universities also prohibit employment discrimination based on gender identity, including the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Clayton State University and Southern Polytechnic State University.
• Public opinion in Georgia supports bans on workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In a 2013 poll, 79% of Georgia voters surveyed said it should be, or likely should be, illegal for public employers in Georgia to discriminate against their employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Although there are no nationwide legal protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a 2013 public policy poll by Public Policy Polling found strong support for protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. In that opinion poll, 72 percent of respondents said such discrimination should not be allowed, while 17 percent said it was acceptable.
• Including sexual orientation and gender identity in the state's current law prohibiting employment discrimination in state government would result in about two additional complaints being filed with the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity each year.
• Because the number of discrimination complaints filed with the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity fluctuates by several complaints from year to year, the expected new complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity could most likely be incorporated into the existing system without the need for additional staff at a negligible cost.

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