LGBT people are battling bias even when they’re ordering lunch, study shows
STONEWALL NATIONAL MONUMENT, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2017/10/11: The dedication ceremony of the LGBTQ Rainbow Freedom Flag at The Stonewall National Monument was held on october 11, 2017; marking the first time the LGBTQ Rainbow Flag will be displayed permanently in New York City. Activists cited bureaucratic homophobia under the Trump administration after the National Park Service suddenly withdrew their sponsorship to the event. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A new report has revealed that LGBT people are suffering from bias and discrimination even in the minutiae of their daily routines in the United States.
According to the report, laws protecting people from discrimination in public places based on sexual orientation and gender identity exist in only 19 states and the District of Columbia.
A total of 34 percent of LGBT people who have experienced discrimination avoid public places such as stores and restaurants, and 47 percent made specific decisions about where to shop, says the Movement Advancement Project report.
The trans community also face a bleaker experience across the states, with 31 percent of transgender people being denied services, harassed or physically assaulted in many venues in retail stores, restaurants, hotels or theatres.
Rainbow flag (Photo credit should read ANDREI PUNGOVSCHI/AFP/Getty Images)
A further 18 percent faced this in gyms or health clubs, and another 14 at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The creators of the report hope that it will inspire the US government to back a federal law that offers LGBT people the same rights and protections as the Civil Rights Act and 28 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“People don’t understand the breadth of what public accommodations are and what they cover,” said Ineke Mushovic, MAP executive director to USA Today, when speaking about the impact of facing discrimination when going about your day.
“It’s all our activities and daily lives when not at home, at work, at school.”
Although the report indicates a somewhat frustrating reality for LGBT people, hopes for the implementation of a Civil Rights-inspired LGBT law look dolefully impossible in the current climate.
Last week, the Supreme Court refused to intervene in a battle over a Mississippi law that lets government workers and private businesses cite their own religious beliefs to deny services to LGBT people.
On top of this, transgender students are also being denied protections in their education, with three transgender student’s concerns including the right to use the correct bathroom being denied support due to Trump’s repeal of Title IX protections.
