How much discrimination do LGBT individuals face in the workplace?

Research shows that up to 43 percent of gay people experience some form of workplace discrimination, harassment, or mistreatment on the job. This can be anything from receiving a negative performance review from a boss who is openly antigay, antigay vandalism of a person's work area or common space, and even physical harassment and attacks.

For transgender or gender nonconforming employees, it's even worse. 90 percent of transgender workers experience some form of harassment, discrimination or mistreatment on the job. And this harassment and discrimination has real consequences for LGBT people and their families: They have higher rates of unemployment, higher rates of poverty, and lower rates of access to health insurance and health insurance coverage, which for most Americans is an employment benefit.

What protections do they currently have against discrimination?

Currently, 21 states and the District of Columbia prohibit most public and private workplaces from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, and 14 of those states and the District of Columbia also prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

At least 203 municipalities have enacted local ordinances prohibiting such discrimination. Furthermore, America's largest businesses have adopted policies that protect LGBT workers from discrimination in employment. Currently, 89 percent of Fortune 500 companies have sexual orientation policies, and 43 percent have gender identity policies. Many of these businesses are on the record stating that such policies are good for their bottom lines, because they help recruit the best talent, reduce employee turnover, and create stable work environments for all workers, gay or straight, transgender or not.

These laws and policies are great, but they create a patchwork of protections across the country that leave millions of workers without equal rights in the workplace and they also leave many businesses confused about their legal responsibilities.

What can we do to provide better protections for these workers?

The most important thing we can do is work to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, in Congress. ENDA would prohibit most workplaces across the nation from engaging in sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination. Note that everyone has a sexual orientation and a gender identity, so all workers—not just LGBT workers—would benefit from the law. There have been cases where straight and nontransgender women have been fired for not being feminine enough. ENDA would protect people in those types of situations.

ENDA currently has 142 co-sponsors in the House and 39 in the Senate. Many organizations are working to educate lawmakers and the public about the problem of workplace discrimination and ENDA as a solution. Strangely, 90 percent of the public think a federal law like ENDA is already in place.

President Obama has promised to sign ENDA if it reaches his desk. I truly hope it makes it to his desk, because American workers should be judged solely on their skills and abilities, and not factors or characteristics that are totally irrelevant to the workplace. Our economy would be stronger, and our country fairer, with ENDA in place.