This Pride Month, LGBTQ families and communities continue to face attacks on their rights across the country. As the current administration takes disturbing steps to erase queer and transgender people from public life – including our workplaces – it’s more important than ever to fight for LGBTQ equity, visibility, and inclusion in our communities.
Supportive workplace policies like paid family and medical leave support all workers, but these protections are especially vital for LGBTQ workers, who are more than three times more likely to work in low-wage jobs than straight, cisgender workers – jobs that often don’t provide benefits like paid leave or paid sick time. On top of protecting LGBTQ workers’ income, paid leave’s job protection provisions are also a key protection against workplace discrimination, by ensuring queer and transgender workers aren’t fired for taking the leave they need. A legal right to paid medical leave would be especially critical for transgender workers, who often need to take time off work for gender confirming surgery and to seek other essential – and often lifesaving – medical care.
Due to systemic barriers, LGBTQ households are also more likely to live in poverty than their non LGBTQ counterparts, and LGBTQ individuals – especially LGBTQ people of color – are more likely to report difficulty paying usual household expenses. This means that without paid leave, an unexpected illness or injury, a sick loved one, or taking time off for surgery can mean the difference between being able to keep food on the table or not.
We’ve made great progress passing paid family and medical leave programs now in 15 states, many of which cover paid family leave to care for chosen family members – bonds which LGBTQ individuals disproportionately rely on in times of need. We’re also fighting to expand and reform existing paid leave programs in states like New York to ensure they cover the needs of workers who depend on these protections most urgently, including LGBTQ individuals who need time off for their own medical needs.
Our know your rights resources published with our partners at the Transgender Law Center break down federal and state workplace protections trans and non-binary workers need to know about as they care for themselves and their loved ones, including paid and unpaid leave, paid sick and safe time, and accommodations for pregnant and postpartum workers of all genders.
This Pride Month comes with an urgent call to action: to fight for LGBTQ people’s ability to thrive and build a strong economic foundation, without having to compromise managing their health needs and being there for their loved ones when it matters most.