—
Discrimination in insurance is a topic not discussed enough. Most people don’t think about their race, gender, sexuality, or disability status when they take out an auto or a homeowners policy. It doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be brought to the forefront of discussion, though.
We often forget to talk about how someone’s sexuality can affect their insurance policies. Many gay men in the 1980s and 1990s were afraid to disclose their sexuality when shopping for life insurance. This is because many companies assumed that most gay men would die of HIV or AIDS, making them a risk.
We’ll talk about some other examples of the ways LGBTQ+ people struggle to buy insurance and how the government has responded to this. We’ll also talk about specific examples of discrimination. This will include the controversy with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance in 2008.
Assumptions About LGBTQ+ People
Discrimination against LGBTQ+ people has been widespread for decades in the U.S. There are a lot of assumptions about people in the community. It’s important they don’t spill over into any places of business, such as the insurance sector, so people from all walks of life can enjoy the same benefits as everyone else.
Some gay men might be afraid to reveal their sexual orientation to their healthcare provider or insurance provider out of fear they may not get coverage. Gay men and bisexual men are 25 times more likely to contract HIV than straight men, and the stigma tying the LGBTQ+ community to HIV and AIDS is a longstanding one that goes back to the 1980s.
Gay and bisexual men may fear life insurance companies won’t give them a policy if they find out they have HIV, or even if they don’t have it but they’re on preventative medications. Like with any other chronic illness, HIV may force life insurance applicants to pay more money for their policy or get a no-exam policy.
Simply being gay won’t make a life insurance company skip your application. There really isn’t a reason for the company to even ask an applicant for their sexual orientation.
How does insurance affect families with gay parents?
Sexual orientation can become an even bigger factor for customers if it impacts their spouse or their children. With gay marriage having been legalized federally for a while, more LGBTQ+ families are looking for the same policies their straight counterparts are.
Let’s say an insurance company is negotiating with a gay married couple about their auto insurance policy. When a couple is married, the spouse of the policyholder is entitled to the same benefits as their partner. Teen drivers who are under the legal guardianship of a gay couple deserve to be added to the insurance policy of their guardians.
If an insurance company can’t accept a same-sex couple as legally the same as a straight couple, they may choose to discriminate and not give the same policy. Thanks to the legalization of gay marriage, this is harder for insurance companies to do now.
Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Controversy
Brotherhood Mutual Insurance is a company providing insurance policies mainly to churches. This ranges from property insurance to auto insurance on cars driven by members of the clergy. They have strict Christian values and try to help impose those values on the communities they work with.
They came under fire in the late 2000s for denying insurance coverage to a congregation that had approved of gay marriage. Most people are well aware of the inaccurate depictions of LGBTQ+ people by some devout folks in the Christian community, and Brotherhood Mutual felt that the client in question was opposed to their core values.
The problem lies in the fact that bigotry being upheld by religious views is not moral or ethical. Many of the worst wars and genocides in history were backed by dictators who thought they were fighting for their deity of choice.
Insurance Companies Best for the LGBTQ+ Community
Fortunately, some insurance companies have prided themselves on the acceptance of everyone from any walk of life. State Farm, MetLife, and Nationwide have all been ranked highly by LGBTQ+ groups. Their hiring practices are also queer friendly.
This is great because if there are employees such as agents within these companies who identify as queer, insurance companies will understand more about their queer customers. Pride Month celebrations and advertising during the month of June are good for awareness, too.
It exposes the LGBTQ+ culture to the general public and helps them to see that gay people need insurance, too. Unfortunately, some big businesses use this time of the year to pretend they care about LGBTQ+ people, but their actions during the other 11 months say otherwise.
For example, AT&T had pride-themed tweets on their social media in June of 2022, but they donated over $1 million to anti-gay legislators in the last year. In the insurance sector, Allstate has donated around $129,750 to anti-gay politicians since 2021.
If more awareness is brought to the queer community all year round, perhaps insurance companies like Allstate will stop donating to causes hurting their gay customers.
Anti-Discrimination Laws in Insurance
There are many anti-discrimination laws enacted by the federal and state governments in the U.S. in recent years in regard to insurance. Unfortunately, not many of them have focused on the LGBTQ+ community. There still needs to be a huge emphasis on ridding the world of homophobia in corporate America.
A law passed in Colorado in 2021 forces all insurance companies to make sure the calculations used in providing insurance policies to customers are void of discrimination against targeted groups such as the queer community.
The Gender Affirming Treatment Act signed in the spring of 2021 in Washington state is another huge step in the right direction. The law makes sure health insurance companies can’t discriminate against transgender individuals who are seeking treatment for gender dysphoria. This can range from hormone therapy all the way to realignment surgery.
Bills and laws related to discrimination will always present companies with loopholes, though. The Brotherhood Mutual example is one of the more famous in recent years.
Still, there are insurance companies trying hard to give equal treatment to all of their clients, and there are insurance companies that don’t give as much effort. As the world becomes more accepting of queer people, the facts will conquer the assumptions about the LGBTQ+ community.
—
Shawn Laib writes and researches for the insurance comparison site, ExpertInsuranceReviews.com. He wants to help make people aware of discrimination in the insurance industry and change the habits of these companies.