- According to the barometer * of the association The Other Circle-Ifop unveiled this Wednesday, one in four LGBT + people say they have been the victim of at least one assault at work.
- And almost half of LGBT + people remain discreet in the office, for fear of rejection reactions.
- More and more companies are however engaging in inclusive policies towards LGBT + employees.
“At the start of my career, I hid my homosexuality. I worked in a large company that sold photocopiers and I constantly heard misogynistic and homophobic jokes. So, on Monday at the coffee machine, when everyone was telling their weekend, I was talking about my wife to avoid derogatory comments and not to be rejected by my colleagues. Ditto in my next business. I did not want to take the risk of revealing myself and I locked myself in the lie, "says Sébastien, 45, now marketing director in a video game company.
A situation that LGBT + people still too often experience at work, as revealed by the barometer * of the association The other circle-Ifop unveiled this Wednesday. According to him, almost half of LGBT + people remain discreet about their sexual orientation. And 77% of LGBT + people in couples have already given up displaying their sexual orientation or their gender identity in different situations: participation in an event between colleagues, indication of their spouse on their mutual fund… “A phenomenon of self-censorship which has consequences on their well-being at work, ”notes Catherine Tripon, spokesperson for The Other Circle.
"How many times have I heard my colleagues call themselves" motherfuckers ""
If these employees do not wish to come out, it is indeed that they have integrated the persistence of LGBTphobia in the professional world. In fact, one in four LGBT + people say that they have been the victim of at least one assault at work: derogatory mockery, offensive words, insult or insult of a defamatory nature, sidelined… "These assaults come more from colleagues than from the hierarchy, which has been further trained in the issue of diversity and non-discrimination. And the pack effect is playing out, ”explains Catherine Tripon. Women are more often victims of this type of behavior than men. "When there is machismo in a company, there is also LGBTphobia, and women suffer from double discrimination."
Rejection of the other is also expressed through exchanges between colleagues. "How many times have I heard my colleagues call themselves" motherfucker "," fag "," dyke ". Without anyone noticing. These are micro-aggressions that hurt each time, ”testifies Sébastien.
Train top management
If large companies have made great strides in recent years in the field of diversity, it is clear that LGBT + people are still sometimes faced with a glass ceiling. Nearly one in six thus declares having suffered at least discrimination from their management: "They feel unequal treatment regarding the progress of their career, the missions entrusted to them, their increases, their chances of being recruited, ”analyzes Catherine Tripon.
Hence the importance of raising awareness of top management on this issue, in order to change attitudes. To this end, the association L'Autre Cercle created in 2012 the LGBT + commitment charter, already signed by 137 companies, communities, ministries, NGOs, etc. They are committed to training their manager in good practices, ensure equal treatment between all employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, to provide for company interventions on the subject ... For its part, the French Association of Diversity Managers (AFMD) has created a LGBT + work inclusion kit, on the deconstruction of stereotypes, the role of managers, leaders, colleagues on this subject.
Some LGBT + employees also promote mentalities in the field, like Sébastien. “When I applied for my current job, I managed to find out about my sexual orientation during the interview, because I no longer wanted to hide. This was no problem. Later, I organized an afterwork in an LGBT + bar and their allies and twenty-five people came. People came out of the closet afterwards, ”he explains. In many companies, internal LGBT + networks are emerging. And it's not over.
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* Survey conducted by Ifop for The Other Circle, online, from November 4 to 30, 2019, with a sample of 16,953 employees and agents working in an organization that signed the LGBT + charter of the other circle. . The survey was also carried out from 12 to 24 April 2019 with a national representative sample of 1,229 LGBT people, aged 18 and over.
- Business
- Employment
- Diversity
- Homosexual
- Discrimination
- Homosexuality
- LGBT