ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > September > 18
Monday, September 18, 2006
Sexual orientation matters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I often hear, “we all get along fine,” and “not that there’s anything wrong with that.” I also hear derogatory remarks about gays and lesbians at work. But how does sexual orientation affect equity and equal access, equal employee rights and opportunity in the workplace?
On Friday afternoon or Monday morning, some of the discussion on the job is about what you’re planning or what you did for the weekend. The complete question but usually not stated as such is, “what are you going to do or what did you do … with your spouse (or person of the opposite gender)?’
That question, and others like it, can put pressure on a person that is gay. Not considering that the person you’re talking to may be gay is making the assumption, even though unintentional, that he or she is straight. Being straight often carries the privilege of not having to even think about the sexual orientation of the person with whom one is talking or the impact of such a question.
When we walk into someone’s cube or office, we can often see pictures of the person’s spouse, family or special friend … of the opposite gender. For a gay person, it is the exception to display pictures of his/her partner. The gay person often carries the pressure and stress of keeping her/his personal life out of the workplace. Such stress can lead to lost productivity and issues of job longevity and retention.
When a company culture isn’t welcoming of gays, even though unintentional, gays often don’t attend company activities. Often when this happens, gay people are seen as not being interested or caring about their coworkers and company. Most often such a conclusion couldn’t be further from the truth.
In certain states such as Massachusetts, single GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) individuals and same-sex couples are permitted to adopt. Also, Massachusetts permits a person to adopt his or her same-sex partner’s adopted child. Florida prohibits single GLBT people and same-sex couples from adopting. Also, in Florida, a person probably cannot petition to adopt his or her same-sex partner’s adopted child. Given these current laws, if one person of a same-sex couple living in Massachusetts that has an adopted child were to get a job opportunity/promotion to Florida, the adoption might not be recognized legally. The couple would have a very big decision to make; one which a straight married couple would not ever have to consider. The company wanting to hire or transfer the person who is gay might lose out on an excellent employee. The rights that gay people have or don’t have varies from state to state: Laws in Your State and Your Community.
Other useful links for reference are Human Rights Campaign & Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
In many Fortune 500 companies, leadership encourages groups of like gender, sexual orientation and race, for example, to form employee groups called Affinity Groups. In addition to groups for men, women, GLBT, Hispanic, Asian, African American, and Disabled employees, there are also groups for white women and white men. The purpose of the Affinity Groups includes addressing workplace issues of theses groups. The purpose also includes developing marketplace strategies to increase market share and profitability in these segments.
So what matters and why does it matter in the case of the GLBT employees? In the U. S., 51% of the Fortune 500 companies offer Domestic Partner (DP) Benefits. In Georgia, 50% of the Fortune 500 companies offer DP Benefits. To those companies, it matter a great deal, i.e. promotion and retention of good employees.
Gay and straight, what are your feelings about this subject? What goes on in your company regarding the interaction between gay and straight employees?
Has your sexual orientation been a roadblock between you and that rewarding promotion? Has sexual orientation ever impacted your relationships with coworkers?
