LGBT community members here in the US are at a disadvantage, when compared to other minorities. The LGBT community has members from all other minorities, thus making the LGBT community one of the largest minorities. Despite the LGBT community being one of the largest minorities it is still the one with the least amount of protections. Every minority excluding the LGBT community has some form of anti-discrimination law protecting them, whether that community is based on race or gender. The LGBT community has no such anti-discrimination laws protecting them, or if they do they vary greatly state to state. The LGBT community needs and deserves the same protections that other minorities have. 

An area in which the LGBT community needs protections that other minorities have is the school system. The reason they need those protections is to prevent bullying. Bullying is of course present in most schools, and often time made light of by society as just another part of growing up. Bullying is not a part of growing up, it is a cancer that negatively impacts a student’s mental health, this impact being so severe as still impacting the individual into adulthood. Until students have better antidiscrimination laws in place the bullying will continue, not just for LGBT students but students perceived to be LGBT. Bullying on the bases of sexual orientation, leads to increased depression in the victim and a six-fold increased risk of suicide attempts. (Friedman) Bullying of students is often not even because of actual sexual orientation, but perceived sexual orientation. 

The bullying faced by the LGBT community most commonly falls under either verbal or physical bullying. Occasionally however the bullying reaches the level of cyber bullying and is no longer contained to the school. This paper is by no way claiming that LGBT students are the only ones that suffer from bullying. That is not the case, however, they are the least protected minority. Only 20 states and the District of Columbia directly address harassment and bullying of students based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Two states specifically prevent school districts from protecting LGBT students. (HRC.org) How long would that prevention last if the group being prevented from receiving protections was the African American Minority? There are 8 states that prevent their schools from including topics related to the LGBT community. Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. 

There is a nationwide bullying deterrent however it only covers certain types of bullying. That deterrent is Title IX, which states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." (NCAA.Org) 

This protection does not include sexual orientation or gender identity under its definition, and until it does the LGBT students will continue to be bullied simply for being themselves. However, in most case brought before courts the judges have ruled that any bullying based on not conforming to gender stereotypes, falls under the protection of Title IX. (Kimmel) This does give some protection from gender identity bullying. Some more commonly believed gender stereotypes are; girls don’t play sports, boys don’t play with dolls, boys don’t take home economics, there are of course many more. These stereotypes may have stood back in the 20s but they don’t anymore. Almost every major sport has a girls’ team now. Playing with dolls teaches good parenting skills at a young age, if your son wants to play with a doll let him. Home Economies is an important class that everyone needs to take not just girls. Home Ec. teaches how to maintain a budget, balance a check book, and cook your own meals, life skills one needs to know to be a successful self-sufficient adult. 

A research article in the Journal of School Health, titled “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Adolescent School Victimization: Implications for Young Adult Health and Adjustment,” made the following discovery after conducting a survey in 2010, “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related school victimization is strongly linked to young adult mental health and risk for STDs and HIV; there is no strong association with substance use or abuse. Elevated levels of depression and suicidal ideation among males can be explained by their high rates of LGBT school victimization.” (Russell et al. 223) This study shows a direct link between school bullying and levels of depression in LGBT males years later.  This survey was conducted using young adults between the ages of 21 and 25, the age in which most enter the workforce in search of a career and not just a job. Not only do LGBT community members get bullied while in school, they also face discrimination once they enter the workforce. Discrimination in the workforce is nothing new it has been around for years; the type of discrimination has simply changed. 

The discrimination the LGBT community faces today is reminiscent of the discrimination women once faced. The only difference being is that woman living in any state can sue their employer if necessary to end that discrimination. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Title VII as it is more commonly known as, is a labor law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Meaning that an employer can harass a black Haitian lesbian woman who practices voodoo and if the employee tries to sue for discrimination the employer can claim that they were harassing her because she is a lesbian.

Title VII needs to be amended to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In November of 2013 the senate attempted to pass the Employment NonDiscrimination Act or ENDA, which would have done just that. (Thompson 285) Thus, making LGBT discrimination in the workforce illegal. This would have finally given the LGBT community the same protections that every other minority already has. Unfortunately, for the LGBT community in September 0f 2014 the ENDA was voted out of consideration by the House of Represenatives. The reason behind this is still unclear. What is clear is the lack of LGBT protection in the workplace from discrimination. Some possible explanations for the voting out of the EDNA can be found in Jerome Hunt’s paper published in June 2012, “A State-by-State Examination of Nondiscrimination Laws and Policies”, in his paper Hunt examines two of the main arguments that the ENDA faced. The “draught” argument and the “flood” argument. The “draught” argument claimed that there would not be enough cases brought forward involving sexual orientation and gender identity. While the “flood” argument claimed there would be so many cases that it overwhelmed the agency charged with enforcing the ENDA. Hunt then goes on to provide evidence proving that neither argument can hold up against. (Hunt) Could it be that the House of Represenatives didn’t do any research on these two arguments against the ENDA before they voted on it, and just saw why they shouldn’t vote on it and not whether they were valid arguments.

With the voting, out of the ENDA it was left up to each individual state to set Anti-discrimination laws and policies. Only 15 states have set anti-discrimination laws in place to protect against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. In 19 states, there is no protection at all with it being perfectly legal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation and their gender identity. Those 19 states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.(Hunt) One fact that remains unclear is how sexual orientation and gender identity impact your work performance or have a bearing on the type of job you can hold. There is not a single job that a straight individual can do that an LGBT individual can’t. Is it really that big of a deal that your heart surgeon be a straight nonmember of the LGBT community. Are you really going to stop and ask before your life saving surgery?

The LGBT community faces a constant daily battle for their rights. One of those battles is for basic accommodations. Twenty-Nine states offer no protection to the LGBT community in regards to discrimination in basic accommodations. (Clifton) In those states a business can deny entry and service to an individual strictly based on their sexuality or gender identity. This means a bakery can deny making you a wedding cake due to it being for a same sex marriage. It also means that date night can take a dark turn, when the restaurant you picked for your date turns you away for being a same sex couple.

The LGBT community also faces obstacles when trying to be a good Samaritan. When trying to give blood LGBT individuals face the following obstacles per the donor guidelines, male donors are eligible to give blood if they have not had sex with another man in more than 12 months. (Redcross.Org) Regardless of type of sex or if safe sex was practiced. Any sexually active male in the LGBT community can only give blood if they are abstinent for a year.  Every blood donation is screened, yet per the Redcross website “While testing has greatly improved, it is not 100 percent effective at detecting infectious diseases in donors with very early infection. The FDA selected the 12-month deferral to provide adequate time for the detection of infected individuals.” (Redcross.org) This 12-month deferral though only applies to men who have sex with men, it also refers to a woman who has recently has sex with a man who has had sex with another man in the last year. Yet, there is no restriction placed on a woman who is promiscuous, and has multiple straight male partners over a short period. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to put a deferral on the promiscuous woman, then say a man who has been in a committed relationship with the same guy for over a year and always practices safe sex.

 LGBT parents in same sex relationships and even marriages aren’t both guaranteed parental rights. Many LGBT couples are still denied the ability to adopt, simply based on the old stigma that only a mother and father can raise a child. This old stigma includes the only a man and woman together is natural. This belief is forced upon students in many states during sex education classes, when they are taught that same-sex relations are not normal or healthy. How does having two dads or two moms really differ from having a mom and a dad? Should it really matter who is raising a child if they are raised in a loving nurturing environment? Children raised by same sex couples receive just as much love and affection as those raised by a so called “traditional” couple.

While the LGBT community may have recently won equal rights in regards to marriage. This equal marriage right can still be denied all in the name of so called religious freedom. This religious freedom legalizes discrimination, based on it being against one’s religion, yet it is only LGBT individuals that suffer from these laws. Twenty-one states currently have some form of religious freedom laws in effect. Even being on the doorway of death doesn’t protect the LGBT community from being discriminated against and being denied basic human compassion. Hospitals can deny an LGBT partner visitation rights regardless it being a partnership or marriage. This all done based on outdated beliefs and policies. How would you feel knowing your loved one is dying and not being able to be by their side?

LGBT community members have very few protections in comparison to other minorities. A lack of anti-discrimination laws disadvantages them. The few laws they do have protecting them very state to state. While other minorities have blanket protections that apply equally in all states. The LGBT community faces a daily struggle facing discrimination, and an attack of their basic accommodations. With the LGBT community, encompassing individuals from other minorities it may very well be the largest. Yet, they still don’t have the protections that they need and deserve.
