Gaps seen in workplaces for LGBTQ after historic ruling
NEW YORK — Even with this week’s Supreme Court ruling, the workplace will likely be far from equal for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
While the nation’s highest court says workers can’t be fired for their sexual orientation or gender identity under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there are still gaps.
The federal law doesn’t protect those who work at businesses with fewer than 15 workers. It doesn’t address bathrooms for transgender people. And it’s still an open question whether employers can fire an LGBTQ person for religious reasons.
Some employers may not pay for medical care for transgender people, or could leave out LGBTQ families.
That’s not to diminish the significance of the Supreme Court ruling, which some advocates say was an even bigger deal for LGBTQ Americans than marriage equality.
The “decision was a watershed,” said Kasey Suffredini, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, which advocates for LGBTQ rights. “But at the same time it’s so basic and entry level.”
Health care benefits: Transgender workers and people in same-sex relationships often face disparities in access to health care. Employers play a role because they work with insurance companies to decide which treatments should be covered under their employees’ health insurance plans.
An insurance plan that a company crafts for employees may cover hormone treatments for a woman undergoing menopause, but it might not cover hormone treatments that a doctor prescribes for a transgender patient.
And same-sex couples sometimes are shut out of benefits such as access to fertility treatments, which are in some states only offered to couples that are not the same gender.
Small businesses: Not all workers are protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which only applies to business with 15 employees or more. But some states have laws that cover those workers.
Fifteen states have nondiscrimination laws that cover all employers, regardless of size, according to Freedom for All Americans.
Another 22 states have laws that cover workers at employers with at least two employees or more.
Parental leave: Most workers in the U.S. do not have access to paid family leave to care for a newborn. But among those who have access to family leave, the policies often favor birth mothers, said Gabriel Dobson, a gay man who is married to another man.
Dobson, 34, left his last job because he felt his employer was not promoting him because he is Black and gay. Now, at a company that’s more culturally inclusive, Dobson is facing subtler challenges. His new company offers 16 weeks of family leave to a mother who gives birth, but only four weeks to a parent who did not give birth.
“When you are both nonbirth parents and you have a child, who is going to get that time off to take care of the child?” Dobson asked.