Running head: LGBT IN THE WORKPLACE 1 LGBT IN THE WORKPLACE 7 LGBT in the Workplace Name Institution Date LGBT in the Workplace Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people’s rights has been a cause of concern in the labor industry for the past five years. These are groups that have experienced significance marginalization and oppression on the basis of their sexual orientations. In many cases, people classified as LGBT are seen within most societies as outcasts. However, an increasing number of people who openly declare their institution into one or more of these groups has necessitated the protection of rights especially in the workplace (Pizer, Sears, Mallory, & Hunter, 2011). The main issues surrounding the treatment of LGBT people in the workplace is mainly during recruitment and how they are treated within the workplace. There have been cases in which people in this group are denied opportunities of employment on the basis of their sexual orientation. Essentially, there are those who have demonstrated sufficient qualification for particular positions but are not given the opportunity on equal grounds as others. On the other hand, there are those who are discriminated against in work zones by other employees and their employers. When they are socially isolated in the workplace and excluded in matters that require team mentality, their morale is affected. The nature of challenges they face depend on the characteristics of the work zones and the extent to which employers create an inclusive environment for marginalized groups. The main source of issues and challenges faced by LGBT people is how society has constructed this group’s identity. As a matter of fact, it is these societal profiling of these people that extends to workplaces and employment zones from which they are discriminated against. For a very long time, societal values have been defined on the basis of laws, religious concepts, cultural elements and human conscience. When the psychological aspect of human conscience is concerned, people are allowed to utilize their moral standards to define their social and personal lives. However, the absence of a legal framework that protects LGBT people is the source of many issues and challenges faced by the group. On the other hand, religion and culture is characteristically rigid in relation to the impact it has on human socialism. People have based religious references to socially alienate LGBT people (Badgett, Lau, Sears, & Ho, 2007). Both Christianity and Islam present rigid representations of people with conflicting social tendencies, a factor that accounts for the discrimination LGBT people face in workplaces. Therefore, the society uses legal structures, religious references and cultural constructs to define LGBT people as unethical and ...

1. Running head: LGBT IN THE WORKPLACE
1
LGBT IN THE WORKPLACE
7
LGBT in the Workplace
Name
Institution
Date
LGBT in the Workplace
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people’s rights has been
a cause of concern in the labor industry for the past five years.
These are groups that have experienced significance
marginalization and oppression on the basis of their sexual
orientations. In many cases, people classified as LGBT are seen
within most societies as outcasts. However, an increasing
number of people who openly declare their institution into one
or more of these groups has necessitated the protection of rights
especially in the workplace (Pizer, Sears, Mallory, & Hunter,
2011). The main issues surrounding the treatment of LGBT
people in the workplace is mainly during recruitment and how

2. they are treated within the workplace. There have been cases in
which people in this group are denied opportunities of
employment on the basis of their sexual orientation. Essentially,
there are those who have demonstrated sufficient qualification
for particular positions but are not given the opportunity on
equal grounds as others. On the other hand, there are those who
are discriminated against in work zones by other employees and
their employers. When they are socially isolated in the
workplace and excluded in matters that require team mentality,
their morale is affected. The nature of challenges they face
depend on the characteristics of the work zones and the extent
to which employers create an inclusive environment for
marginalized groups.
The main source of issues and challenges faced by LGBT people
is how society has constructed this group’s identity. As a matter
of fact, it is these societal profiling of these people that extends
to workplaces and employment zones from which they are
discriminated against. For a very long time, societal values have
been defined on the basis of laws, religious concepts, cultural
elements and human conscience. When the psychological aspect
of human conscience is concerned, people are allowed to utilize
their moral standards to define their social and personal lives.
However, the absence of a legal framework that protects LGBT
people is the source of many issues and challenges faced by the
group. On the other hand, religion and culture is
characteristically rigid in relation to the impact it has on human
socialism. People have based religious references to socially
alienate LGBT people (Badgett, Lau, Sears, & Ho, 2007). Both
Christianity and Islam present rigid representations of people
with conflicting social tendencies, a factor that accounts for the
discrimination LGBT people face in workplaces. Therefore, the
society uses legal structures, religious references and cultural
constructs to define LGBT people as unethical and immoral.
In the contemporary context, the law establishes a framework
with which societal activities are evaluated. The legal
framework relating to this issue is different considering how

3. LGBT people are treated in different countries. The United
States recently instituted a legal statute that accounted for the
rights of LGBT people in all the 50 states (Mallory & Sears,
2012). The presence of this legal statute means that LGBT
people could now openly present themselves as a recognized
social group in the United States who could marry and be
protected from any form of discrimination (Eliason, Dibble, &
Robertson, 2011). On the other hand, there are countries all
over the world whose legal structure forbid the sexual
tendencies that make up this community. Therefore, LGBT
people in these countries are subjected to legal discrimination
and find it hard to publicly represent those who share with their
social tendencies. There is significant reasons to suggest that
some of these nations are revising their legal aspects to become
inclusive and representative to the diversity in the nation.
The United States has a number of solutions both in legal and
social contexts to ensure the inclusivity of LGBT groups
throughout the nation. It is through these solutions that the
nation intends to ensure that the rights of LGBT people are
protected. Through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, all cases relating to discrimination of LGBT
people within and beyond their workplaces are evaluated. This
commission was established with the objective of managing an
environment that offers equal opportunities of employment for
all Americans irrespective of their social tendencies. This
commission is also mandated to hear cases relating to
oppression in workplaces and unfair treatment during
recruitment. Additionally, America has aligned its state and
federal laws and regulations to provide protection and
recognition of the rights of LGBT people. While there has been
contradictions from religious groups, government agencies has
partnered with grass roots organizations to sensitize the nation
on the need to respect the rights of LGBT people. Currently, the
two presidential aspirants are using LGBT rights as a political
strategy to ensure the inclusivity of their policies.
As already mentioned above, different countries experience the

4. same problem but deal with it differently. In comparison to the
United States, other nations with LGBT people have not yet
aligned their efforts to protect the rights of LGBT groups. For
instance, there are countries like Uganda, Jamaica and South
Africa among others which utilize their constitution to inhibit
the existence of LGBT people in the society. There are different
atrocities that have taken place in these countries to discourage
gay and lesbian communities. As a matter of fact, the treatment
of LGBT groups has become significant in international
relations and is one of the considerations that characterize
international collaborations and partnerships. To ensure a more
effective solution to this problem, countries and international
humanitarian organizations must consider tackling the cultural
and religious constructs that discriminate against LGBT
communities (Wright, Colgan, Creegany, & McKearney, 2006).
This is because those who discriminate against these groups
utilize cultural and religious constructs to justify how they
profile LGBT communities.
Gradually, people have been assimilating new social tendencies
in place of cultural practices that have become obsolete. It is
therefore possible to utilize the multicultural framework of
inclusion to accept LGBT people in the society. This can be
organized by promoting a diverse and inclusive framework that
shows how people can coexist in the society while embracing
their cultural, religious, social and sexual preferences. This
must be used to help people recognize that the society can
accommodate diverse social tendencies that do not harm the
greater good of peaceful coexistence (Githens & Aragon, 2009).
Once such a platform is established, a consensus can be utilized
to institute a legal framework, like changing the nation’s
constitution, to protect and recognize the rights of LGBT
groups.

5. References
Badgett, M. V., Lau, H., Sears, B., & Ho, D. (2007). Bias in the
workplace: Consistent evidence of sexual orientation and gender
identity discrimination. The Williams Institute.
Eliason, M. J., Dibble, S. L., & Robertson, P. A. (2011).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians'
experiences in the workplace. Journal of homosexuality, 58(10),
1355-1371.
Githens, R. P., & Aragon, S. R. (2009). LGBT employee groups:
Goals and organizational structures. Advances in Developing
Human Resources, 11(1), 121-135.
Mallory, C., & Sears, B. (2012). Evaluation of Local Laws
Requiring Government Contractors to Adopt LGBT-Related
Workplace Policies. Alb. Gov't L. Rev., 5, 478.
Pizer, J. C., Sears, B., Mallory, C., & Hunter, N. D. (2011).
Evidence of persistent and pervasive workplace discrimination
against LGBT people: The need for federal legislation
prohibiting discrimination and providing for equal employment
benefits. Loy. LAL Rev., 45, 715.
Wright, T., Colgan, F., Creegany, C., & McKearney, A. (2006).
Lesbian, gay and bisexual workers: equality, diversity and
inclusion in the workplace. Equal Opportunities International,
25(6), 465-470.