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Abstract
This paper argues the case for encouraging gay men and women to be open about their sexual orientation in a corporate and professional workplace.
The gay individual, their fellow employees and the corporation stand to gain from the creation of a welcoming organisational environment as part of a whole approach to management of diversity in the workplace. Managing homosexual employees in many ways parallels managing diversity issues concerning women and people of colour. There is of course a major difference in that gays are the only ones who must 'come out'. Women or people of colour can be clearly seen for their difference. They are normally supported in such identities by families as they grow and by social constructs as they live as adults. Gay men and women lack representative role models through their adolescence, fear condemnation and loss of love from their families as they develop sexually and quickly learn to remain secretive in the face of denunciation, discrimination and violence from elements of society. Not surprisingly many homosexuals carry a legacy of self-hatred and insecurity much of their lives. So to, heterosexuals often either ignore or devalue their gay fellow citizens or behave in an anti-gay manner to reaffirm their own sexuality. A combination of all these attitudes and behaviours results in discrimination and stress at the workplace and lowered job performance for all concerned. I believe that this situation will only be improved if gay men and women are open about their sexual orientation and consequently challenge and overcome stereotypes and discrimination. I believe that corporations have not only an employee welfare but also a commercial interest in this outcome and therefore should do what is necessary to facilitate it. SOME NOTES ON TERMS: Through much of this paper I have tended to use gay or gays as a noun per its modern usage even though I am not overly fond of the term ('gays' simply sounds clumsy). However I also recognise (and yet do not fully accept) that many lesbians prefer to be separately and distinctly identified - as in 'gay men and lesbians'. It is problematic that no single noun exists that satisfies an academic need for accuracy and a literary need for brevity that applies to both men and women. I also use homosexual (for both men and women) but acknowledge that it is a rather clinical term and, like heterosexual, tends to focus attention on sexual activity at the expense of notions of love, affection and identity. |
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