Discrimination against LGBTQ people includes
discrimination
Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
against
LGBTQ people
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
as a whole and against specific subgroups:
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
s,
gay men
Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...
,
bisexuals,
transgender people
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes persons whose gender ...
, among other
sexual and gender minorities
Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) comprise individuals whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or gender identity differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Sexual minorities include lesbians, gay men, bisexual peo ...
.
Homophobia
Lesbians
Gay men
Bisexuals
Transphobia
Transgender men
Transgender women
Other sexual and gender minorities
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Discrimination against aromantic people
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Discrimination against asexual people
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Discrimination against intersex people
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". "Because thei ...
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Discrimination against non-binary people
Discussion
LGBTQ individuals have faced a long history of discrimination. They've been labeled as mentally ill, faced forced attempts to change who they are, and experienced hate crimes and exclusion from jobs, homes, and public places.
Survey studies show that instances of personal discrimination are common among LGBTQ community. This includes things like slurring, sexual harassment, and violence.
According to a survey conducted for National Public Radio, at least one in five LGBTQ Americans have experienced discrimination in public because of their identity. This includes in housing, education, employment, and law enforcement. Furthermore, the report reveals that people of color in the LGBTQ community are twice more likely than white people in the LGBTQ community to experience discrimination, specifically in job applications and interactions with police. One-third of LGBTQ Americans believe that the bigger problem is based on laws, and government policies, and the rest believe that it is based on individual prejudice. Due to the experiences of discrimination in public, many LGBTQ Americans tries to avoid situations or places out of fear of discrimination, such as bathrooms, medical care, or calling the police.
A survey by CAP shows that 25.2% of LGBTQ people experienced
discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that these discriminations negatively affect their well-being and living environment. Due to the fear of discrimination, many LGBTQ people change their lives such as hiding their relationships, delaying health care, avoid social situations, etc. In research publish by UCLA School of Law, survey data showed that 29.8% of LGBTQ employees experienced workplace discrimination such as being fired or not hired. LGBTQ employees who are people of color were much more likely to report that they didn't get hired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, compared to white LGBTQ employees. Transgender employees were more likely to face discrimination based on their LGBTQ identity compared to cisgender LGBTQ employees. Almost half (48.8%) of transgender employees experienced discrimination due to their LGBTQ identity, while only 27.8% of cisgender LGBTQ employees reported such experiences. In addition, over half (57.0%) of discriminated LGBTQ employees said their employer or co-workers indicated that the unfair treatment was linked to religious beliefs. In the U.S., certain states have passed laws permitting child welfare agencies to deny services to LGBTQ community based on religious or moral beliefs. Similarly, some states allow healthcare providers to refuse certain procedures or medications for LGBTQ community on religious or moral grounds. Additionally, certain states permit businesses to decline services to LGBTQ people or same-sex couples, particularly in the context of wedding-related services, citing religious or moral beliefs.
In a 2001 study that examined possible root causes of
mental disorders
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
in
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
and
bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
people, Cochran and psychologist
Vickie M. Mays, of the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
, explored whether ongoing discrimination fuels
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
,
depression and other stress-related mental health problems among cisgender LGBTQ people.
The authors found strong evidence of a relationship between the two.
The team compared how 74 cisgender LGBTQ and 2,844 heterosexual respondents rated lifetime and daily experiences with discrimination such as not being hired for a job or being denied a bank loan, as well as feelings of perceived discrimination.
Cisgender LGBTQ respondents reported higher rates of perceived discrimination than heterosexuals in every category related to discrimination, the team found.
However, while gay youth are considered to be at higher risk for suicide, a literature review published in the journal ''Adolescence'' states, "Being gay in-and-of-itself is not the cause of the increase in suicide." Rather the review notes that the findings of previous studies suggested the,"...suicide attempts were significantly associated with psychosocial stressors, including gender nonconformity, early awareness of being gay, victimization, lack of support, school dropout, family problems, acquaintances' suicide attempts, homelessness, substance abuse, and other psychiatric disorders. Some of these stressors are also experienced by heterosexual adolescents, but they have been shown to be more prevalent among gay adolescents."
Despite recent progress in LGBTQ rights, gay men continue to experience high rates of
loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived or actual isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism that motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perc ...
and depression after coming out.
Related concepts
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Gay bashing
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Heterosexism
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships. According to Elizabeth Cramer, it can include the belief that all people are or should be heterosexual and that hetero ...
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Heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is the definition of heterosexuality as the normative human sexuality. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between peo ...
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LGBT employment discrimination in the United States
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LGBT stereotypes
LGBTQ stereotypes are stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people based on their sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions. Stereotypical perceptions may be acquired through interactions w ...
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Trans bashing
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Transmisandry
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Transmisogyny
Transmisogyny, otherwise known as trans-misogyny and transphobic misogyny, is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny as experienced by trans women and transfeminine people. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book '' Whip ...
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Transgender inequality
Transgender inequality is the unequal protection received by transgender people in work, school, and society in general. Transgender people regularly face transphobic harassment. Ultimately, one of the largest reasons that transgender people face ...
See also
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Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
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Capital punishment for homosexuality
Capital punishment as a criminal punishment for homosexuality has been implemented by a number of countries in their history. It is a legal punishment in several countries and regions, all of which have Islamic-based criminal laws, except for ...
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Criminalization of homosexuality
Some or all sexual acts between men, and less frequently between women, have been classified as a criminal offense in various regions. Most of the time, such laws are unenforced with regard to consensual same-sex conduct, but they neverthele ...
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Homophobic propaganda
Homophobic propaganda (or anti-gay propaganda) is propaganda based on homonegativity and homophobia towards homosexual and sometimes other non-heterosexual people. Such propaganda supports anti-gay prejudices and stereotypes, and promotes socia ...
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LGBTQ rights opposition
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Violence against LGBTQ people
LGBTQ people frequently experience violence directed toward their sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws prescribing punishment for homosexual acts, or by individuals. It may b ...
References
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