Out actor Zachary Quinto narrates a
United Nations video on the cost of LGBT discrimination.
The 4-minute video breaks down the
economic and social impact of discrimination against people based on
their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
In the United States, 40 percent of
homeless youth identify as LGBT or queer, transgender youth are
nearly 10 times more likely to have attempted suicide than the
general population, and 20 percent of LGBT people have experienced
workplace discrimination in the past year.
“For the individuals in question,
these are personal tragedies,” Quinto says. “For the wider
community, they represent an enormous waste of human potential, of
talent, of creativity and productivity that weighs heavily on society
and the economy.”
“According to a recent World Bank
pilot study, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi, and trans
people could be costing an economy the size of India's up to $32
billion a year.”
“The cycle can be broken,” Quinto
adds.
The video from the Office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights is part of the U.N.'s Free &
Equal campaign for LGBT equality.