LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day will be held on June 17 this year.
The Pay Gap Has a Rainbow Ceiling
On LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day, we raise awareness about the lack of earnings data on LGBTQIA+ workers, despite the fact that they experience heightened levels of discrimination and face harmful wage gaps. A 2024 analysis from the Center for American Progress’ LGBTQI+ Community Survey shows that in 2024, LGBTQI+ households made just 85 cents for every dollar earned by non-LGBTQI+ households, equaling about $12,600 less per year.
The Fight for Equal Pay Must Be Intersectional
Our fight for equal pay takes an intersectional approach, acknowledging that economic insecurity is magnified for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, LGBTQIA+ people of color, LGBTQIA+ women, immigrants, and other marginalized identities. Together, we champion inclusive solutions that uplift all voices within our diverse community.
We’re Not Backing Down
In another year marred by hundreds of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills and ongoing attacks by the federal government targeting our communities, we stand firm, raising our voices to address wage inequality and all its contributors.
Our shared hashtags for the day will be #PrideInYourPay and #LGBTQIAequalpay, and our shared calls to action will be to demand the EEOC continue EEO-1 demographic data collection and urge Congress to pass the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act.
The Agency That Should Protect Workers Is Undermining Them
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), is required to protect the rights of all workers to be free from harassment and discrimination. However, under the current Chair, the Commission has engaged in unprecedented actions undermining the enforcement of existing protections, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Aligning the Agency with a discriminatory Presidential Executive Order, EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas has illegally refused to enforce employment protections for transgender and nonbinary workers, rolled back technical assistance related to discrimination and harassment against LGBTQ+ individuals, and rescinded comprehensive 2024 guidance on workplace harassment that specifically outlined protections for workers based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Agency is now proposing to halt 60-year-old EEO-1 demographic data collection which is critical for the Commission’s enforcement of anti-discrimination law and employers’ compliance with the law. Rescinding the EEO-1 data collection would eliminate one of the federal government’s most important transparency and accountability tools, making it significantly harder to detect and address systemic inequities.
On this #LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day, we call on the EEOC to abandon its proposed rescission of the EEO-1 data collection, along with the EEO 2-5 data collections, and preserve these critical tools for enforcing civil rights and advancing workplace equity.
Congress Has a Fix. Now It Needs the Will.
Given the importance of the EEOC to the lives and livelihoods of millions of workers, we also demand the Commission fulfill its mandate to enforce the law on behalf of all workers—not dictated by a political agenda. In light of the rollbacks by the EEOC and its refusal to enforce the rights of all workers, we are also urging Congress to pass the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act. This legislation would strengthen federal anti-discrimination and harassment protections for all workers, including LGBTQIA+ workers, by making it crystal clear that discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity is unlawful.
