Study proves anti-gay laws have negative impact on businesses

One of my favorite sites, Unicorn Booty has posted some information regarding the negative effects of anti-gay laws on businesses and their employees. And it think it would do the community some good to drill this information constantly until we can repeat it by heart:

Right now, Georgia is eyeing two anti-LGBT “religious exemption” bills: the “Pastor Protection Act” ensuring that pastors won’t being sued for refusing to perform same-sex marriages, and the “First Amendment Defense Act” which would let religious nonprofits deny services to same-sex couples. In response, a group of more than 400 businesses calling themselves Georgia Prospers has come out against the bill reasoning it runs counter to Georgia’s friendly culture. But there’s another reason that people should oppose it: namely, such bills are financially harmful to everyone whether you’re a employed person, an LGBT-person or just an average citizen.

In January of 2016, The Center for Talent and Innovation — a project stemming from 80 global corporations and organizations representing nearly 6 million employees in 192 countries — published “Out in the World: Securing LGBT Rights in the Global Marketplace”, study of 1,964 LGBT professionals and 10,242 non-LGBT professionals in 10 countries around the world. The study revealed the negative impact that anti-LGBT laws can have on businesses, their employees and the world economy.

They also released an infographic about those harms, and also illustrated what businesses can do to help make countries more LGBT-friendly, benefitting employees and citizens both.

Here’s some of the study’s findings, as outlined in The Economist:

- One in five closeted LGBT employees said staying closeted at work “reduced their ambition and caused them to work less.

– Almost 30 percent of closeted employees said “hiding their identity kept them from speaking up or sharing innovative ideas at work.”

– Closeted employees are three times more likely to leave their companies in the next year, compared to their openly LGBT colleagues

– Forty-two percent of LGBT employees around the world reported that they had experienced discrimination in the last five years because of their identity.”

For more information, particularly the detailed infographic, see Unicorn Booty.