Imagine going to work somewhere where you feel unable to be yourself. What you did at the weekend, your partner, where you socialised - all topics that are off limits within your workplace. I know that this is the experience I've had in the past and it is an experience shared by thousands of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, particularly before workplace protections against discrimination were secured ten years ago.Â
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Thankfully, many organisations now take recruiting and retaining the very best talent - regardless of their sexual orientation - remarkably seriously. Stonewall works with over 650 organisations - together employing more than 6 million people in Britain - to ensure that gay people feel able to be themselves at work. Organisations from Goldman Sachs to the Ministry of Defence understand that people perform better when they can do so.Â
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So a lot has been achieved -Â but sadly, the reality of an office that is welcoming and supportive is still a distant dream for some people. YouGov polling conducted for Stonewall shows that, in just the last five years, a horrendous 2.4m people of working age have witnessed verbal homophobic bullying at work. A further 800,000 people of working age have witnessed physical homophobic bullying at work.
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The end result? Over a quarter of people aren't open about their sexual orientation to any of their colleagues. That means an awful lot of time and energy expended on hiding who you are, rather than doing the job in hand. Just try it yourself. Try not mentioning your partner, or what you do as a family just for one day at work.Â
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We regularly hear stories from individuals who aren't able to be themselves.
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Ronda, for example, who worked in a hospital and overheard colleagues chatting: "'Have you heard about so-and-so's son?' So-and-so's son had obviously come out as gay, and it was very much along the lines of 'disgusting, I would disown my own son if he did that, I mean how can they be proud parents?'"
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Anya, who works in the public sector, is""definitely aware of my sexual orientation, because it's massively different from everybody around me. People talk about their weekends and their heterosexual lives and mine is obviously very different, and you do pause for a second before saying 'my girlfriend?'. I'm aware that in a fairly conservative environment, maybe I'm the first one they've met".Â
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Stories like these - and too many more to mention - are why we're launching a new campaign to tackle homophobia in Britain's workplaces. Because this stuff really matters.Â
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We're putting nearly five thousand posters across London, Cardiff and Edinburgh, featuring two real people who work in a variety of jobs and professions - everything from construction workers to office managers, priests to police officers, footballers to firefighters. The posters have a simple message: 'One is gay. If that bothers people, our work continues'.
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As well as raising awareness of the extent to which homophobia still exists in Britain's workplaces, we want this to be a call to action for Britain's businesses. We're sending the posters to Stonewall's 650 Diversity Champions and asking them to tailor them with their logos and proudly display them in offices and workplaces.Â
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And we want individuals to talk to their employer and ask them what they're doing to ensure every member of staff - regardless of their sexual orientation - can be themselves. You can ask them to support our new campaign, check what policies they have in place to prevent bullying and harassment or whether they have a staff network group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff.Â
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Finally, if you are having problems at work or if you witness homophobia, you can always contact Stonewall. Our Workplace Team and our Information Service are here to support you.Â
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For further information on the campaign or for support you can visit www.stonewall.org.uk/LotsToDo or join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook by using #LotsToDo.Â
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Homophobia in the workplace: "gay people must be able to be themselves"
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MumsnetGuestPosts · 17/01/2014 17:14
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