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Hostility and bullying in the workplace for LGBTQIA+ people
Getting past the recruitment barrier is unfortunately not the end of problems for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Tragically LGBTQIA+ staff often face bulling and harassment – both physical and verbal – in the workplace.
Stonewall’s report found that 18% of people had been the target of negative comments or conduct from their colleagues, and that one in eight trans people had been physically assaulted by either customers or colleagues in the workplace. A lot of this behavior goes unreported to higher management.
Neeves explains that discrimination is often “passed off as just banter” — but bullying LGBTQIA+ colleagues, deliberately misgendering trans and non-binary employees, and physical assault is not a laughing matter. It’s unacceptable behavior both inside and outside the workplace.
Coming out on a weekly basis
The abuse and discrimination, and the fact that studies show that being LGBTQIA+ can affect pay and promotion opportunities, Stonewall’s research showed that over a third of LGBTQIA+ employees have hidden their sexual orientation and gender identity at work.
In 2020, research by McKinsey, in collaboration with The Alliance, found that 18% of LGBTQIA+ employees were not broadly out at work. This increased to 78% for junior workers.
Psychologist, author, and director of employee wellbeing at Benefex Gethin Nadin notes that his experiences as a gay man in the workplace “have probably been very different compared to most people in the community” because he doesn’t fit most gay male stereotypes, making it easy to hide his sexuality if he so desires.
“The challenge that I’ve had through my entire life is dealing with the assumption that I am a straight man with a wife or girlfriend and that has put me in some pretty difficult situations [in terms] of business relationships,” explains Nadin.
This means that “almost every day for 20 years, I’ve had to come out to people” and “it is exhausting and emotionally taxing battling assumptions and having to correct people all the time”.
Learning consultant at NIIT Limited Lior Locher, who identifies as non-binary, sympathizes with Nadin’s experience. They found that often people assume that a team is all female if it made up of all women and them, and that never gets questioned.
“I am not okay with being assumed it is an all-female team if I’m in it,” notes Locher.
“Do I open the box during what’s mean to be a casual introduction and derail the next half an hour, or do I put up with being misgendered?” they said.
McKinsey found that, unfortunately, this is a very common situation. Nearly 50% of LGBTQIA+ survey respondents noted they had to come out at work at least once a week, with one in 10 having to come out on a daily basis.
In addition, 60% said they had to correct colleagues’ assumptions about their personal lives – they also had to face hearing derogatory comments or jokes about them or others in the LGBTQ+ community at work.
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