The association L'Autre cercle, which campaigns for the integration of homosexuals in business, has just published its second barometer. As a result, in most companies that do not do prevention, one in two gay employees or one lesbian hide their sexual orientation, for fear of comments. At the microphone of Europe 1, a concerned employee testifies.

Homophobia persists in business. This is the result of the second barometer just published by the association L'Autre cercle, which campaigns for the integration of homosexuals in business. The result is alarming: in most companies that do not do prevention, one in two gay employees or lesbians hide their sexual orientation, for fear of remarks and of being rejected. At the microphone of Europe 1, Sébastien Petit, an employee of a Japanese company testifies to his experience.

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"I started to invent a life for myself, to transform my spouse's 'it' into 'her', and to lie so as not to take the risk of having remarks," he said. It took him almost 20 years to dare to tell his society that he was gay. In the Japanese company he worked for, he was afraid of the reaction of his colleagues, mainly salespeople.

One in six gay workers says they have been discriminated against

"You know these are the kinds of little sentences that people drop the day after a football match, where they say: 'Well, these are real fags on the field'. The term 'motherfucker' is extremely used in the company, whether in the corridors, whether at the coffee machine "he says.

And it is still true today. More than 4 in 10 employees hear homophobic expressions appear in the open space, and 1 in 6 say they have been discriminated against by their management. The result is clear: half prefer to hide and keep quiet and an overwhelming majority choose to waive certain rights rather than coming out, like enjoying a trip from the works council or putting their spouse on their mutual.