GAO Releases Report on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Employment Discrimination
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a comprehensive overview of state statutes covering sexual orientation and gender identity and employment discrimination complaint data. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have statutes prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. Twelve states and the District of Columbia also have statutes prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Federal law prohibits discrimination in employment based on a number of actors, but not on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. GAO’s report includes a useful state-by-state overview of these statutes along with information on their characteristics, coverage and exclusion. GAO also reported the number of administrative employment discrimination complaints filed in each state as reported by the states. GAO-10-135R “Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Employment Discrimination” is here.