Are you an LGBTQ friendly workplace?

Workplaces in India that claim to be LGBTQ friendly should not actively ask employees to come out or measure their success based on how many comes out in their office. For one the employer must realise that the employee is not going to be with them for ever. And it is common for many to move jobs for career growth and financial growth. LGBTQ friendliness is one aspect and you cannot offer LGBTQ friendly and ask the employee to compromise on other aspects of the career.

I understand numbers are important in business, and self-ID is something few employers depend on. Employee self-ID is fine, if you have proper fool-proof mechanism to maintain privacy and if the employees can anonymsly identity themselves, then go ahead. And the access to sensitive and confidential date must be restricted when it comes to LGBTQ employees benefits.

A queer person would know when to come out based on various factor, their personal experience et al. And not every workplace is LGBTQ friendly in India, and imagine if you coax your employee to come out because you want to display a success story in your annual presentation it is highly unethical. You are actually putting the employee at risk if they move jobs, or even if they stay in the same job remember that they spend only 8–9 hours in the office.

There are many instances where an out employee (or outed employee) moves job and doesn’t come out in the new workplace. Few months/years later someone from their past workplace join their new org and imagine the anxiety and the constant threat of them being outed in the new workplace?

So, if you want to be LGBTQ friendly, make sure your policies, your decision, language, benefits and everything else is friendly to queer employees as well and you don’t have to worry if you know any out person or not. Just don’t have “so-many employees came out” as one of your yardstick for success.