Gay people still fear widespread discrimination
A major YouGov poll of lesbian and gay people, commissioned by Stonewall, has found that despite recent legislative protections, a majority still believe they will be discriminated against when accessing public services. Nearly one in five said they are still bullied at work for being gay.
YouGov surveyed a sample of 1,658 individuals, the first statistically significant national poll ever conducted into the life experiences of Britain’s 3.6 million gay people. Asked about their own experiences and expectations of discrimination when it came to work, education, politics, crime and the criminal justice system, housing and healthcare, the findings show:
- Nearly one in five are still bullied at work for being gay.
- One in five expect worse treatment when applying for social housing.
- A fifth expect to be treated worse than a heterosexual when reporting any crime to the police.
- Nearly a quarter think they would be treated worse if they committed a criminal offence.
The polling is published in a new report, Serves You Right, supported by Accenture, which also makes a range of recommendations offering simple ways of improving public service delivery for lesbian and gay people.
Serves You Right does, however, find that public bodies and companies that make a positive effort to promote fair treatment can reap significant reputational benefits. Nearly half of lesbian and gay people said they were likely to buy products from businesses that use images of gay people to sell their goods; two thirds are more likely to buy products from a company that shows a positive commitment to recruiting gay people. The report can be downloaded from: http://www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/servesyouright.pdf
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