69% of LGBTQI+ people suffer 'some type of discrimination' at work

A study from the UGT union has found that 69% of LGBTQI+ people in Catalonia suffered "some type of discrimination" – physical or verbal – in their workplace between 2020 and 2023. 

"We go back into the closet because of this violence," the union's head of LGBTQI+, Toño Abad, said at the headquarters of the Observatory against LGBTQIphobia in Barcelona on Thursday. 

The figure for LGBTQI+ people across Spain is even higher, at 78%. Abad described the findings as "worrying" and said it was "completely undemocratic" for this to occur. 

The Observatory announced it will sign an agreement with UGT which it hopes will guarantee the community's labor rights and ensure that employers comply with current legislation. 

Difficulties for trans people 

Abad also highlighted the difficulties in accessing the labor market that trans people face, saying that most are forced to work in the underground economy. According to the union's analysis in Catalonia, 55% of trans people face "exclusion from the labor market." 

The union representative also listed aspects related to the family sphere where rights are waived, such as with marriage or accompanying partners to the doctor, describing it as "very worrying." 

Abad pointed out that, following the approval of the trans and LGBTQI+ law, companies with more than 50 workers are obliged to achieve "full equality."  

The survey undertaken by the union obtained 3,400 responses in 2020 and 2,800 in 2023. Work is already underway to prepare a new one in 2025. 

23 incidents detected by the Observatory 

The Observatory Against LGBTQIphobia has drawn up another report, also in the workplace, recording 23 incidents since the beginning of 2023. 

Of these, 43.5% affected people who identified as gay, 21.7% as lesbian and 8.7% as trans men and women. The most common incident was "harassment," the organization's head, Eugeni Rodríguez, said.