LGBT+ Americans bear brunt of pandemic's economic crash

LGBT+ employees are 20% more likely to have had hours reduced than their straight colleagues, a figure that rises to 44% among gay and trans people of color, said the survey by the Human Rights Campaign, a U.S. advocacy group. The research looked at the economic impact of the pandemic from the end of May, when many U.S. states started easing lockdowns and initiating…

By Oscar Lopez

Sept 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Economic fallout fromthe coronavirus pandemic is having a harsher impact on LGBT+Americans than on the general population, said a survey releasedon Friday showing gay and trans people 30% more likely to havelost their jobs since May.

LGBT+ employees are 20% more likely to have had hoursreduced than their straight colleagues, a figure that rises to44% among gay and trans people of color, said the survey by theHuman Rights Campaign (HRC), a U.S. advocacy group.

The research looked at the economic impact of the pandemicfrom the end of May, when many U.S. states started easinglockdowns and initiating policies to reopen businesses.

“As some communities start to go back to work … we’reseeing that LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ people of color andtransgender people, are being left behind,” said HRC PresidentAlphonso David in a statement.

“The data continues to reinforce what we already know – thatthe economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is not overbecause the pandemic is not over, especially for communities whowere already marginalized in this country.”

More than 6 million cases of coronavirus have been recordedin the United States, according to a Reuters tally, with atleast 185,000 deaths.

The government’s most recent report on joblessness showednearly 30 million Americans claiming some form of unemploymentbenefit in mid-August, with some 880,000 people filing forclaims last week alone.

Rights advocates say gay and trans people are bearing thebrunt – locked out of education and work opportunities due todiscrimination, many were in a fragile state financially beforethe pandemic hit.

Even with many states starting to reopen, Black and LatinoLGBT+ people have been 70% more likely than the generalpopulation to have lost their jobs, according to the HRC survey.

LGBT+ people were 50% more likely to have taken pay cutssince lockdown measures eased, and LGBT+ people of color wereone and a half times more likely, it said.

Nevertheless, the survey found eight in 10 LGBT+ peoplefavored containing the virus rather than reopening the economyafter lockdown measures eased, compared with less than 70% amongthe general population.

The HRC survey was conducted with analytics consultancy firmPSB among 12,000 U.S. adults between April 16 and Aug. 6.

(Reporting by Oscar Lopez @oscarlopezgib; editing by EllenWulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, thecharitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives ofpeople around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly.Visit http://news.trust.org)