More than half of Americans OK with lesbian, gay and transgender colleagues at work
women and people of colour face a higher glass ceiling
A survey has found more than half of Americans have no qualms when it comes to their colleagues’ sexual orientation or gender identity.
The poll, carried out by Bospar Public Relations and market research firm Propeller Insights, found 55 percent of Americans aged 18 and over were OK with having gay, lesbian or transgender co-workers.
The poll found those aged 75 and over were the age group most likely to be accepting of LGT colleagues, with 60 percent saying they had no preference of sexuality or gender identity.
56 percent of respondents aged 18-to-34 and 59 percent of those aged 35-to-54 said the same.
Baby-boomers were the least accepting, with only 47.9 percent saying they had no preference.
Many Brits still fear coming out in the workplaceThe survey did not include views on bisexual workers.
Of those polled, only 4.7 percent and 4.6 percent said they would prefer to work with transgender men and women respectively.
“I think it shows that we have a long way to, especially with the trans community,” Bospar executive Curtis Sparrer told NewNowNext.
“When I looked at the data it seemed to suggest that people wanted to work with people like themselves, which would explain why straight men and women did so well—since they are a majority of the country’s population.”
The survey was carried out over a five-day period in April and included 1,010 respondents.
Earlier this year, research by the charity Stonewall found many Brits still fear coming out to colleagues, despite protections outlawing workplace discrimination.
A survey by the organisation found that 35 percent of of LGBT people in the UK remain in the closet to colleagues.
The poll revealed discrimination against transgender workers (Mark Makela/Getty)
Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall, said: “Over the past decade, leading employers across all sectors have shown a real commitment to inclusion and have taken positive steps towards LGBT equality.
“Unfortunately, the findings of our Work Report show there’s still lots to do. The fact that more than a third (35 per cent) of LGBT staff have hidden their identity at work for fear of discrimination shows that change is still very much needed.”
Meanwhile, a US survey found the number of Americans who openly identify as LGBT is higher than ever.
Gallup, a research-based consultant company, released new data that showed a record-breaking 4.5 of Americans surveyed identified as LGBT.
In 2012, 3.5 percent of the adults surveyed identified as LGBT, compared to 3.7 percent in 2014.
As part of the daily tracking performed by the major polling company, Gallup spoke to over 340,000 people in 2017.
The firm found that 4.5 percent of the population identified as LGBT, an increase from 4.1 percent in 2016.
