Many states still don’t have protections for LGBTQ workers

Big business started offering protections to LGBTQ workers years ago. The 16th edition of a report by the Human Rights Campaign says a record 609 U.S. businesses earned top ratings last year as a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.” But more than half of U.S. states don’t have laws that specifically bar discrimination against LGBTQ workers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “A lot of people think that after marriage equality, everything was equalized,” said Jonathan Lovitz, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce senior vice president, “that that also meant our workplaces were safe, or our public housing programs were safe. And it’s not true.”