Illinois Human Rights Act
Origin: Illinois State Legislature
Bill Name/Number: (77 ILCS 5/) Illinois Human Rights Act
Link: Click here
Summary: The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in Illinois with respect to employment, financial
credit, public accommodations, and real estate transactions on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, ancestry, military status, age, order of protection status, marital status, sexual orientation (which includes
gender-related identity), unfavorable military discharge, and physical and mental disability. This act also prohibits
sexual harassment in education, discrimination because of citizenship status, address record in employment, and
discrimination based on familial status in real estate transactions.
Talking Points & Important Information:
• While not all 50 states offer protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, there are at least 32 states
with some type of employment protection either legislatively or through executive policy.
• In Illinois, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity in housing, employment, and public
accommodations. As a state that provides recourse, employees have the right to seek damages against a
discriminating employer after they have exhausted any available administrative remedies.
• According to the Center for American Progress, 90 percent of transgender individuals reported encountering
some form of harassment or mistreatment on the job and 47 percent of those individuals experienced some sort
of adverse job outcome.
• Because Congress has yet to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would provide the
LGBTQ workforce critical protections against workplace discrimination based on a person’s real or perceived
sexual orientation or gender identity, it’s up to cities and states. In fact, while 18 cities and states, including
Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have passed some form of non-discrimination protection, they aren’t
comprehensive enough to expressly protect LGBTQ individuals from housing, employment, education, credit, and
other forms of discrimination.
• For a map of non-discrimination laws, click here. For more on ENDA, click here.
2015 POLICY BOOK
STATE
INTRO
LEVEL
PAGE 48