Over the Rainbow? The Road to LGBTI Inclusion
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Ensuring that LGBTI people – i.e. lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intersex individuals – can live as who they are without being discriminated against or attacked is a concern worldwide. Discrimination against LGBTI people remains pervasive, while its cost is massive. It lowers investment in human capital due to bullying at school. It also reduces economic output by excluding LGBTI talents from the labour market and impairing their mental health, hence their productivity. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the extent to which laws in OECD countries ensure equal treatment of LGBTI people, and of the complementary policies that could help foster LGBTI inclusion. The report first identifies the legislative and regulatory frameworks in the areas of civil rights, protection against discrimination and violence, as well as health that are critical for the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities. The report then explores whether these laws are in force in OECD countries and examines the margin for further improvement. Finally, the report investigates the broader policy measures that should accompany LGBTI-inclusive laws in order to strengthen the inclusion of LGBTI people.
How could OECD countries better include LGBTI people, beyond passing LGBTI-inclusive laws?
This chapter presents the broader policy measures that should accompany the LGBTI-inclusive laws defined and analysed in Chapters 2 and 3 in order to strengthen the inclusion of LGBTI people. Based on a detailed analysis of ongoing national action plans, this chapter identifies the following four key policies – and illustrates how to implement them through a wide range of best practice examples: (i) collecting information on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics; (ii) enforcing LGBTI-inclusive antidiscrimination, hate crime/hate speech and asylum laws, e.g. through training police officers on properly dealing with hate crimes targeting LGBTI people; (iii) fostering a culture of equal treatment in education, employment and health care, beyond enforcing laws prohibiting discrimination in these fields; and (iv) creating and maintaining popular support for LGBTI inclusion, e.g. through well-designed awareness-raising activities among the general public.
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