46 States, Thousands of Employees—What Should Companies Know?
In the United States, there is currently a nationwide legislative assault on the human rights of those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) community. The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on the US criminal justice system, reported in March 2023 that new FBI data shows hate crimes towards the LGBTQ+ community increased 70 percent between 2020 and 2021. This statistic could be higher, but many states do not include sexual orientation or gender identity in their definition of a hate crime. This means hate-based incidents in these states are not counted as hate crimes unless reported directly to a federal agency. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there are 16 states that do not include potential LGBTQ+ hate crimes in their reporting structures.
There have been many anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced and approved in several states in recent months. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the main source that is remaining up to date on this issue, there are over 400 bills that impact this community, spanning 40 states so far in 2024, and impacting millions of people.
An employee’s mental health should be a piece of the employee lifecycle that companies commit to protecting. When a person has poor mental health, they can have an array of outward appearances, sometimes largely based on the space they occupy at any given time. Almost half of adults will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime, a number some experts predict will increase because of social pressures and issues currently happening in the United States.
Employers and employees can find regularly updated information in this guide about individual state legislation progress on laws that related to LGBTQ+ civil rights.
