HR 101: Let’s discuss the history of LGBTQ+ rights at work

Welcome to HR 101. Class is now in session. Today’s discussion will focus on the history of LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace.

The history. During the Cold War, the US Senate considered gay government employees a threat to national security (insert eyeroll here). As such, President Eisenhower signed executive order 10450 in 1953, prohibiting members of the LGBTQ+ community from federal government and military employment. (It was eventually repealed by President Obama in 2017.)

Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, LGBTQ+ activists began to push for workplace rights, according to the New York Public Library, protesting outside several government and military buildings—including the Civil Service Commission, the Pentagon, and the White House—for their right to work within these institutions.

In January 1975, the first federal gay rights bill addressing workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation was introduced in Congress. It was sent to the Judiciary Committee, but never considered, according to CNN. Seven years later, Wisconsin became the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, CNN noted.

President Bill Clinton signed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993, essentially banning members of the military from openly identifying as LGBTQ+. This policy remained in effect until 2011, when President Barack Obama repealed it.

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Fast-forward. Strides have been made in the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for equality in the workplace, and today these employees have more support from their employers than in the past. In 2023, 78% of LGBTQ+ employees surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) said their organization’s leaders care about making greater DE&I efforts. Employers have also made progress by offering benefits that specifically support their LGBTQ+ workers.

Despite this, there is still work to be done. SHRM noted that in 2023, 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were signed into law. And while many LGBTQ+ employees have seen greater support from their leaders, some may not have seen the same from their colleagues. More than one-half (55%) of LGBTQ+ employees who were surveyed by Glassdoor in May 2023 have witnessed or been the target of anti-gay or anti-trans comments at work, HR Brew previously reported.

“It’s important to support LGBTQ+ employees by evaluating your workforce culture and benefit strategy,” Megan Spina, principal of insurance brokerage firm Brown & Brown, told SHRM. “From a management and leadership perspective, these include manager and employee awareness trainings, supporting or partnering with employee resource groups, and gathering information from the LGBTQ+ population on their needs and perceptions of the benefits programming.”