In 2019, 72% of people in the world accepted homosexuality, up from 51% in 2002. Despite this, research from the previous year indicated that the majority of American LGBTQ+ workers have experienced workplace discrimination.
This confirms findings from an earlier study by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, which indicated that many Canadians felt uncomfortable admitting their sexual orientation at work. In a recent piece by The Canadian Press, it was revealed that 65% of LGBTQ+ employees in Quebec had experienced prejudice in the previous five years.
There is a glaring disparity between the rising acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in general society and how the same individuals are treated at work.
By creating a welcoming and inclusive work environment for its LGBTQ+ employees as significant stakeholders with significant power, corporations have a responsibility to close the equality gap and set an example for other businesses.
LGBT Purge
The LGBT Purge is one of Canada’s worst and longest-running instances of employment discrimination. The Canadian government launched a campaign to remove LGBTQ+ employees from the federal public service and the Canadian Armed Forces between the 1950s and the mid-1990s.
According to the government’s estimates, about 9,000 LGBTQ+ Canadians have been abuse and abused by law enforcement officers, interrogated, and abused by the police as a result of investigations, interrogations, and traumatizing experiences.
During the Cold War, anti-communist prejudice served as the impetus for the LGBT Purge. The Soviet Union viewed socially marginalized individuals, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community, as potential targets for blackmail for sensitive information.
Survivors of the LGBT Purge participate within the 2019 Pride Parade in Ottawa.
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There was a settlement reached the following year in which survivors of the purge were compensated up to $110 million after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in 2017 for “state-sponsored, systematic oppression and rejection.”.
As a result of the Purge, survivors experienced psychological pain, physical suffering, financial hardship, self-harm, and suicide. As a result, the Purge serves as a reminder of how far there is to go in the fight for equality.
The influence of CEOs and workplace equality
affects corporate LGBTQ+ equality. The Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index rating system was used by the researchers to assess corporate LGBTQ+ equality.
Because CEOs play a key role in corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives, the researchers chose to study CEO power. They typically decide on major decisions and set the company’s strategic direction, and they possess the authority over which projects get funding.
According to study, CEOs can increase sustainability since they have greater job security and are able to focus on long-term projects, such as sustainability. Similar to the above, it might be claimed that LGBTQ+ employees should have equal access to equal rights and that CEOs, as the most secure people in their organizations, have the opportunity and flexibility to influence the equality of LGBTQ+ people within such enterprises.
In what way does this power work?
According to the study, strong CEOs opposed corporate LGBTQ+ equality campaigns. This might be due to a variety of factors, such as CEOs appeasing shareholders who don’t believe corporate LGBTQ+ equality programs should be funded, either because it goes against their principles or because they don’t think it’s a decent investment.
Powerful CEOs were also found to be more likely to oppose corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives when those organizations lacked external oversight (lower institutional ownership), information transparency (higher tendency to manipulate their earnings), or were headquartered in states with a preponderance of religious people.
There are quite a few advantages for investing in LGBTQ+ initiatives within the office.
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Surprisingly, CEOs didn’t undergo any penalties for suppressing LGBTQ+ worker equality initiatives. Instead, some loved higher inventory market returns and better long-term agency market values.
But there are larger advantages for investing in LGBTQ+ initiatives. They aren’t simply the morally right factor to do, however will also be good for firms in the long term by bettering worker morale, productiveness, agency efficiency and future agency valuation.
It’s time to switch things up
These results confirm earlier studies that we still have a long way to go before gaining equal rights for LGBTQ+ folks, particularly in the workplace.
It is evident that businesses won’t make a change in direction until pushed to or if their bottom line is in jeopardy. It is time for lawmakers and regulators to establish affirmative action laws to push businesses to provide LGBTQ+ workers with safe and fair working conditions.
This might be done in several of different ways. Similar to how they do for environmental causes, activist investors might persuade their companies to fund business activities for LGBTQ+ equality.
