Workplace culture can be to blame when LGBTQ employees are overlooked for leadership positions and underpaid for their labor, the National LGBTQ Workers Center (NLWC) says.

“Queer and trans folks are often overlooked for promotions and any kind of raises because of this assumed professionalism that’s just based on appearance and a normative idea of what people should look like,” Molly Benitez, NLWC’s communication and membership chair told Reckon.

Because LGBTQ workers make approximately 90 cents for every dollar earned by the average U.S. worker – according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation – collectives like NLWC step up to support and protect BIPOC, trans, gender-expansive, queer, sick and disabled workers.

Today is LGBTQ Equal Pay Day, an observance that raises awareness about the unequal pay gap that many queer and trans workers face at their place of employment.

Read more: How to spot wage theft tricks and what to do if you think your employer is stealing from you

“When you work in a space that is outrightly hostile to your gender identity or your sexuality, it’s a hard place to be in and focus,” Benitez says.

Nearly 30% of LGBTQ employees have experienced at least one form of employment discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including not being promoted or receiving raises, according to the Williams Institute.

Benitez says examples of this discrimination often look like harassing people about their clothing, which bathroom they use and being dead named.

To avoid discrimination and pay discrepancies, 75% of LGBTQ professionals still feel pressured to code switch while at work – adjusting one’s speech or behavior in ways that optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment and employment opportunities – according to a 2023 LinkedIn survey,

The LinkedIn survey also reported that 40% of respondents hoped that code-switching would help them move up the ladder and 36% did it out of fear of facing hostility from management and/or coworkers.

“When you work in a situation like that, it’s psychologically and emotionally exhausting and that’s where the part about shifting the workplace culture comes in because how can you expect your employees to come in and give you a 100% when you are making the workplace unhealthy for them?,” Benitez told Reckon.

Unequal pay and workplace discrimination can trickle down and affect how queer and trans folks afford everything from healthcare to housing. According to the Williams Institute, 22% of LGBTQ people live in poverty.

Benitez says, “If we want to support marginalized folks and bring some type of equality to their life then a big part of that is economic.”

Despite 23 states and Washington, D.C., passing laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, being an LGBTQ employee remains a challenge across the country.

While passing legislation to end discrimination in the workplace and help with equal pay are important, the NLWC believes LGBTQ allies can help change work culture and better support queer and trans folks in their place of employment.

Benitez suggests allies can start by sharing their own salary information and by standing up for LGBTQ employees when they face harassment or harsh evaluations.

“Supporting folks getting paid equally is a huge issue for all marginalized groups of people – historically women, people of color and LGBTQ people are often paid less than their white male counterparts and when it comes intersectionality, the more marginalized identity the person holds the more they’re impacted by unequal pay,” Benitez said.