Why Supporting LGBTQIA+ Employees and Expressing Gender at Work Is Important
Disclaimer: This is my opinion and my take on the topic. I am basing this on the knowledge I have from my studies, an introduction to gender studies, and discussions with activists and experts. Feel free to disagree and tell me your opinion in the comments.
Here is a scenario: A person on LinkedIn posts about their transition and attaches two pictures, a before and after. The person celebrates their decision and breaks out of the shell, celebrating themselves and who they are. In the comments, you can read people congratulating them for their step. And then there are the hate comments: “Transpeople are not real”, “Why is this on LinkedIn?”, and “This is not business related at all” are only three examples of how a genderqueer person faces erasure and backlash for being who they are.
As a homosexual person, the latter two statements got me thinking: Is my sexuality really not business related and if it is, how?
Against Heteronormativity — Feeling Welcomed and Accepted at Work
[…] policies against discrimination and awareness training have a more significant impact inside a company
Having worked as a closeted cis-man in my teenager years and early twenties, as well as after my studies, and being out in my late twenties, I noticed one big difference: I am generally happier with my life; I can be myself in my — often chosen — environment. However, work and business are part of many people’s lives, a part where we don’t always have control over who we meet and who our peers and supervisors are.
This uncertainty puts LGBTQIA+ members in a difficult position. As the representative LinkedIn comments above show, there are, to this day, people who do not acknowledge diversity and are writing very offensive comments online. Being out, therefore, means risking being offended, reduced to gender/sexuality, or even bullied; you risk being perceived as “different”.
You either risk being out and dealing with the consequences or remain in the closet and risk your mental health
Additionally, many employers are perceived as being heteronormative by members of the queer community. By definition, heteronormativity describes the notion of heterosexuality being the norm; the default, if you will. It also assumes the gender binary and that every other sexuality is inferior. To me, it often seems that heteronormativity comes from a place of not knowing better, of not being aware of the diversity in the work environment.
Here lies the root of why members of the queer community feel uncomfortable. Imagine: Your are in the break room, and people start talking about their partners and their (heterosexual) relationships, about their marriages, or even their kids. All those topics of daily conversations involve heterosexual people telling others about privileges that would out LGBTQIA+ members if they would talk about it. Even the gendered question: “Do you have a GIRLfriend?” can make someone feel uncomfortable. In asking that way, people reveal that they assume you — being a man in this case — are straight.
If a member of the queer community feels welcomed and safe enough to be themselves, motivation, productivity and creativity are also influenced
To participate in those conversations or answer those questions, people from the queer community are forced to decide between three options: Tell the truth and out themselves, lie about everything or not participate in the conversation. Every option comes with a risk: You either risk being out and dealing with the consequences or remain in the closet and risk your mental health.
What does this mean for an employer, then?
Studies have shown that members of the queer community who are not out are less productive and suffer stress through constantly adjusting their behavior to their environment. Watch this Ted Talk if you want to go more into detail about the relationship between mental health and being out at work.
Therefore, it is in every employer’s interest to support their LGBTQIA+ employees, give them a sense of saftey at their workplace and make them feel welcome. Often, companies are doing that by supporting queer projects and organizations, which is not wrong per se. However, policies against discrimination and awareness training have a more significant impact. If a member of the queer community feels welcomed and safe enough to be themselves, motivation, productivity and creativity are also influenced.
In the end: Let people be themselves and support them for being who they are instead of making them feel inferior. Assuming someone’s gender and sexuality can be hurtful, especially if the person in question has to deal with it every day and with the same people.
Expressing Gender vs. Professionalism
Focusing on gender and sexuality, the question of policies for expression becomes even more complicated
Self-expression at the workplace is a topic that, in general, is not talked about enough. We as humans express our individuality and who we are through how we look and dress, amongst other things. Think about tattoos, piercings, and clothing. Every style choice we make, even if we don’t care about it, communicates who we are and what we think in one way or another.
But why is this important for a working environment?
Generally, it is the same argument as before: Happier employees. By allowing people to express themselves however they want, an employer gives their employees the chance to be themselves. Granted, this may be limited, especially regarding guests or customers. Still, I would argue that the line between what is okay and what not is blurred.
There are two extremes to this: On the one hand, there are companies and organizations with a strict dress code, typically not really allowing any self-expression through clothing. Usually, this can be seen in the army or any place with a strict uniform policy like the police, banks, or insurance companies. On the other hand, there may be a non-policy company where employees can wear what they want. However, this also means that an employer cannot tell their employees not to wear something, which could be problematic, especially regarding guests or customers.
As an employer, holding on to a heteronormative policy of self-expression, can be disadvantageous
Focusing on gender and sexuality, the question of policies for expression becomes even more complicated. While tattoos and piercings are gender neutral, clothing is not. On the contrary, it is pretty often gendered in a binary way, only taking the two sexes, male and female, into account and assigning specific clothes to them: Skirts are seen as worn by worn by women. In contrast, a neck- or bowtie is traditionally seen as something only men can wear.
Nowadays, gender and sexuality are seen more as a spectrum than an either-or, allowing people to express their masculinity and femininity. Especially with the present discourse of transsexuality and non-binarity — and its erasure in some cases — the question of how we see gendered ways of expression is arising. Think about it: While women started wearing suits and other clothing used to express masculinity and “power” af few centuries ago, men wearing dresses are still seen as outrageous. However, men started to blur the line in recent years as some began to express themselves through nail polish and make-up, two ways of expression that are seen as feminine and “for women.”
As an employer, holding on to a heteronormative policy of self-expression can be disadvantageous. Of course, as an employer, you can permit certain expressions like nail polish or make-up, but it has to be for everyone. In a nutshell: If women can wear nail polish, so can everyone else. An example of an organization that is still doing the binary way is the Swiss Army. Soldiers have a uniform for traveling and official ceremonies. While women here get to choose between trousers and a skirt, men are not given the choice, which erases trans- and non-binary people.
To defend the choice of a binary policy, the argument of clients and guests feeling uncomfortable is made. This may be a fair point. However, it also acknowledges that the company or story would rather have homo- and transphobic clients or guests than employees who feel comfortable at their workplace, which diminishes the support for their LGBTQIA+ employees.
So why should gender and diversity be related to business and why should we have conversations about it on LinkedIn and hopefully in the company?
In conclusion, expressing gender and sexuality at work increases productivity, creativity, and motivation of the concerned employees. Therefore, it is highly recommended to have discussions about it in the workplace. Together with a diversity team, awareness training, policy against discrimination, and — if needed — an inclusive dress code welcomes LGBTQIA+ employees into a safe workplace. Additionally, it sets a strong signal against discrimination and hate, allowing individuality the freedom of being themselves into a persons environment.
What do you think? Does the company you are working for have policies against discrimination? Do the LGBTQIA+ members feel welcome at work? How would you handle policies about self-expression?
About the Author
I’m a marketing and communication specialist at a startup and study German and English language and literature at the University of Bern. My blog consists of articles about the startup scene as well as poetry and the expression of my love for literature.
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