Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sex Shame on You, Straight People
Posted by Audrey Ference on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 1:50 PM
I guess it should come as no surprise to anyone that LGBTQ people are discriminated against, since we're still legislatively chewing over whether or not people who want to marry a same-sex partner have civil rights, but it still sucks to be reminded that, despite having anti-discrimination policies in place, offices can be hostile places to be out. According to a study by the Center for Work-Life Policy, "48% of college-educated gay Americans choose to keep their sexual orientation a secret in the workplace."
Which is fine, you know, if you want to keep your non-work life out of work, that's certainly your choice. But it sucks if the reason a person keeps quiet about their home life isn't because they're private people but because they're pretty sure their co-worker is going to be a dick about it.
According to the study, 37% of straight women and 52% of straight men say that they prefer gay people keep their personal lives to themselves, and 29 states do not prohibit employers from discriminating against LGBT workers.
Straight people, that's on you. Work is hard enough. Can we all just treat our co-workers like people? And please especially don't do that thing to a gay co-worker where you ask all the straight people how their partners and kids are, and then never ever ask the gay co-worker. Just because you're not calling people gay slurs doesn't mean you're not contributing to a hostile environment. C'mon everybody. Be cool.
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