LGBTQI+ Americans Deserve—and Need—Inclusive Paid Leave

All people—including LGBTQI+ people—deserve the time they need to care for themselves and the people they love, without risking their paycheck or their job. But due to continued inaction on paid leave at the federal leave and the persistent effects of discrimination, too many LGBTQI+ people must go without leave that meets their needs—or without any leave at all. Moreover, without sufficient protections, the threat of discrimination can make using leave too risky for many LGBTQI+ people, even when they have access to leave on paper.

This issue brief highlights how LGBTQI+ people are especially affected by the lack of universal paid leave and therefore would particularly benefit from comprehensive, inclusive paid leave such as the proposal in the FAMILY Act.

LGBTQI+ people are concentrated in jobs that are unlikely to provide paid leave. Despite being employed at rates higher than non-LGBTQI+ people, LGBTQI+ people are disproportionately likely to be low income¹ and more likely to live at or near the poverty line.² There are also pronounced wage gaps for LGBTQI+ workers, particularly for transgender and nonbinary people.³ Low-wage workers are much less likely than higher-wage workers to have access to all forms of paid leave.⁴

As previous Center for American Progress research highlights, LGBTQI+ people are disproportionately likely to work in retail and food service,⁵ industries with especially low rates of paid leave access.⁶ Similarly, LGBTQI+ people, especially transgender people, are overrepresented among part-time workers.⁷ Part-time workers are less than half as likely as full-time workers to report having access to paid family leave and short-term disability insurance through their employer⁸ and are less likely to be eligible for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).⁹

LGBTQI+ people are also overrepresented among independent and gig workers. In a 2023 survey, nearly 1 in 5 (18 percent) LGBTQ respondents reported currently working in a gig position—twice the rate of non-LGBTQ respondents.¹⁰ Because gig workers are typically labeled as independent contractors, even where they may be legally entitled to employee status,¹¹ they rarely have access to paid leave in practice.¹² Beyond gig work, LGBTQI+ people are more likely than non-LGBTQI+ people to report being self-employed, including working as independent contractors or freelancers.¹³ With very limited exceptions, ¹⁴ the self-employed have essentially no access to paid leave.¹⁵

Compared with non-LGBTQI+ people, LGBTQI+ people also experience more frequent jobs changes,¹⁶ which can lower the likelihood of qualifying for leave when needed. In order to be eligible for unpaid, job-protected leave under the FMLA, workers must have been employed with their current employer for at least one year¹⁷—a policy that ends up excluding many LGBTQI+ people. Moreover, in both FMLA- and non-FMLA-covered workplaces, employer policies often limit eligibility for paid leave to those who have been with an employer for a minimum amount of time, adding another dimension to the impact of frequent job changes on leave access.

Both overconcentration in lower-wage, lower-quality jobs and frequency of job changes are closely tied to persistent employment discrimination that constrains LGBTQI+ workers’ options. LGBTQI+ people often must leave jobs based on how they are treated¹⁸ or must make decisions about where to work to avoid discrimination.¹⁹ In previous Center for American Progress research, more than 1 in 5 (22 percent) LGBTQI+ people reported having been fired or not hired in the past year due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status.²⁰ The impacts of harassment and discrimination in employment fall especially heavily on transgender people and LGBTQI+ people of color.²¹

Even where LGBTQI+ people nominally have access to leave, the lingering threat of discrimination can make it too risky to use in practice, especially where doing so would risk being outed at work. Half of LGBT employees are not out to their supervisor, while one-quarter are not out to any co-workers, according to a 2021 survey.²² And in a 2018 survey, 1 in 5 LGBTQ people agreed with the statement: “I would be afraid to request time off to take care of a loved one because it might disclose my LGBTQ identity.”²³ Because being out at work carries a substantially increased risk of discrimination or firing,²⁴ LGBTQI+ workers may be unable to safely take the leave they need to care for their loved ones.²⁵

These barriers fall particularly hard on transgender people, who experience exceptionally high rates of employment discrimination.³⁰ When a need for transgender-specific health care arises, many workers hesitate to request the leave they need.³¹ When they do request this leave, workers often face barriers to accessing it, including harassment, inappropriate questions, and other negative treatment.³² These challenges likely only compound the existing profound health disparities³³ and difficulties in accessing supportive health care³⁴ facing transgender people.

Even where LGBTQI+ people have access to some form of paid leave, these policies are often not LGBTQI+ inclusive.³⁵ In a 2018 survey, less than half of LGBTQ respondents said that their employer’s leave policies are equally inclusive of LGBTQ parents.³⁶ When workplace leave policies fail to include all ways to welcome a child, including adoption, foster care, and surrogacy, LGBTQI+ families are particularly harmed.³⁷ Moreover, for those who have access to it, short-term disability insurance can make up for lost wages during recovery from childbirth ³⁸ but does not cover new parents who did not themselves give birth.

Similarly, workplace leave policies often exclude chosen family members,³⁹ with especially harmful impacts on LGBTQI+ people. Because of discrimination sometimes straining relationships with families of origin, LGBTQI+ people often rely on chosen family members, such as close friends, partners who are not legal spouses, or other loved ones to whom they may not have a biological or legal relationship.⁴⁰ When they have a health need requiring time away from work, LGBTQI+ people are twice as likely as non-LGBTQI+ people to rely on chosen family; transgender people and LGBTQI+ people of color are even more likely to rely on chosen family.⁴¹ Moreover, LGBTQI+ people are more than twice as likely as non-LGBTQI+ people to rely on a partner to whom they are “not legally married or legally registered” for care.⁴²

In particular, while the federal FMLA provides covered employees with unpaid leave to care for a seriously ill loved, one among other needs, this protection is limited to care for an employee’s parent, child, or legal spouse.⁴³ Therefore, even when they are covered by the FMLA, LGBTQI+ employees do not have the legal right to use this leave to care for loved ones who do not meet this narrow definition.

The United States’ failure to ensure paid leave for all workers is harming LGBTQI+ workers and their families. Without paid leave, the time that many LGBTQI+ people need to address serious health or family needs is out of reach. In a 2018 survey, 65 percent of LGBTQ respondents said they would have financial concerns about requesting leave from work if they needed it; 40 percent would be afraid to lose their jobs.⁴⁴ As a result of these concerns, along with the risk of potential discrimination, nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ respondents who had previously needed or considered taking leave reported: “I took less leave than I wanted or needed to.”⁴⁵ Forgoing or cutting short needed leave, in turn, puts LGBTQI+ families’ health at risk.⁴⁶

As a result, LBGTQI+ people stand to particularly gain from comprehensive, inclusive paid leave laws. The FAMILY Act⁴⁷ is the leading federal paid leave proposal.⁴⁸ If passed, the bill would guarantee paid leave to all workers, including part-time workers, self-employed workers, gig workers, and those across all income levels and industries⁴⁹—the kind of inclusive, universal coverage needed to ensure LBGTQI+ workers don’t fall through the cracks. Paid leave would be portable, ensuring that LGBTQI+ people don’t lose out on benefits they have earned because they must switch jobs or are between roles.⁵⁰

Moreover, the FAMILY Act would provide leave designed to meet the full range of needs of LGBTQI+ workers and their families. Workers could take paid leave to care for a broad range of loved ones when they are seriously ill or injured, including chosen family.⁵¹ Parents of any gender could use leave to bond with a new child, including children newly placed for foster care and adoption.⁵² The FAMILY Act would also provide safe leave⁵³ to address the impacts of sexual and domestic violence,⁵⁴ a need facing many LGBTQI+ people.⁵⁵ And leave could be used to address workers’ own serious health condition, covering a wide range of physical and mental health needs.⁵⁶

Under the FAMILY Act, leave would be both paid and protected, ensuring LGBTQI+ workers can take the time they need without risking their paycheck or their job. Workers would receive benefits on a sliding scale starting at 85 percent of their income, so that low-wage workers—among whom LGBTQI+ people are overrepresented—can afford to take leave.⁵⁷ All employees taking leave under the FAMILY Act would be protected against retaliation and discrimination for requesting or using leave, offering powerful new protections to enable LBGTQI+ workers to take leave safely.⁵⁸

Each and every day in a country without national paid leave, LGBTQI+ people are forced to pit their health and family against their livelihoods. The United States can and must do better, guaranteeing paid leave for all people and all families that truly meets their needs.  

The author would like to thank Cait Smith and Kennedy Andara for their assistance with this issue brief.