Press Releases

In honor of Pride Month, the JEC released a new report highlighting contributions the LGBTQ+ community makes to the U.S. economy and the barriers they face to economic security and stability. Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ represent a rising share of the U.S. population, but they face systemic discrimination and a growing wave of state legislation that restrict their rights, limit their full economic participation and lead to worse economic outcomes. 

Among the report’s key findings: 

• Conservative estimates find LGBTQ+ businessowners contribute more than $1.7 trillion to the economy and create over 33,000 jobs per year, although lack of official data impair economic analysis and underestimate the full range of economic contributions. 
• LGBTQ+ Americans are disproportionately likely to face economic hardship and are more likely to live in poverty, be unemployed, lack health insurance and face food insecurity than non-LGBTQ+ Americans. 

• Anti-LGBTQ+ state laws and continued discrimination disproportionately impact transgender Americans and LGBTQ+ people of color. 
• Better data is needed to understand and improve LGBTQ+ Americans’ economic situation, and the lack of public data renders the community’s unique challenges invisible and prevents policymakers, advocates and others from effectively combating economic insecurity. 

 With the release of the report, JEC Chairman Don Beyer (D-VA) released the following statement: 
 
“Pride Month is a chance to celebrate the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community and their diverse contributions to American society, culture and economy. The United States has made important progress towards LGBTQ+ equality in recent decades, but this progress is being threatened by rising number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills at the state level and the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which undermines the right to privacy that underlies many LGBTQ+ rights.  

 “As this report shows, this discrimination and other structural barriers have created widespread and disproportionate economic hardship across the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly among transgender Americans and LGBTQ+ people of color. This inequality hurts the entire economy by restricting full economic participation and hindering economic growth.”  

Chairman Beyer supported the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act, which would ensure lawmakers and federal agencies have comprehensive data to effectively address challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, and the Equality Act, which would ensure equal protection under the law for all LGBTQ+ Americans. Both bills passed the House and have been introduced in the Senate.