Despite increases in visibility and public understanding, LGBTQ individuals are at an increased risk for discrimination, according to GLAAD's Accelerating Acceptance study, out Wednesday.
GLAAD found that 70% of LGBTQ Americans surveyed said discrimination toward the community has increased within the last two years — in the workplace, on social media, in public accommodations and even within the family. The annual study measures “Americans’ attitudes and comfortability towards LGBTQ Americans.”.
While it doesn’t come as a shock that “the most marginalized within our community are being hit the hardest when it comes to discrimination,” Ellis says this multilayered discrimination provides an opportunity for increased solidarity within the LGBTQ community.
Gen Z adults have more LGBTQ visibility than their predecessors. But they're also reporting higher levels of discrimination over the last two years compared to the rest of the community.
Ellis has previously called visibility a “double-edged” sword for the LGBTQ community, and this holds true for Gen Z adults, whose comfort in their LGBTQ identities makes them targets for ignorance.
GLAAD also found that 78% of non-LGBTQ adults "inaccurately associate the term ‘LGBTQ’ with being mostly about sexual orientation,” and Ellis says this knowledge gap is part of the equation that leads to discrimination against trans and nonbinary individuals.
Three-quarters of LGBTQ adults view societal visibility as being “essential to gaining increased equality and acceptance.” With regard to visibility in the media, 64% of LGBTQ adults said they “feel proud and supported when there is accurate LGBTQ inclusion in the media.”
Although the law isn't always favorable to LGBTQ rights, 79% of LGBTQ people support an increase in federal legislative action as a safeguard against gender and sexuality-based discrimination
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