Bisexual prejudice among lesbian and gay people: Examining the roles of gender and perceived sexual orientation.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence demographic factors have on the way lesbians and gay men manage their sexual orientation at work. Design/methodology/approach – Based on data taken from a cross-sectional survey of 1,308 gay and lesbian employees working in Germany, four regression models are proposed. The means of handling one’s homosexuality at work was measured by the 31 items containing Workplace Sexual Identity Management Measure from Anderson et al. (2001). Findings – Results indicate that being in a relationship is related to increased openness about one’s homosexuality at work. Furthermore, it appears that the older and the more religious lesbian and gay employees are, the more open (and therefore less hidden) about their sexuality they are. Having a migratory background is related to being more guarded about one’s sexual orientation, whereas personal mobility within the country is not related to the way one manages one’s sexual orientation at work. Lesbians tend to be a little more open and less guarded about their homosexuality compared to gay men. Research limitations/implications – The focus of this research (and the related limitations) offers several starting and connecting points for more intersectional research on workforce diversity and diversity management. Practical implications – The study’s findings indicate the need for an intersectional approach to organizational diversity management strategies. Exemplified by the dimension “sexual orientation”, it can be shown that the impact each dimension has for an employee’s everyday workplace experiences and behavior in terms of a certain manifestation of one dimension of diversity can only be understood in terms of its interplay with other dimensions of diversity. Originality/value – It is shown that manifestations of demographic factors that tend to broaden the individual’s coping resources for stigma-relevant stressors lead to more openness about one’s homosexuality in the workplace.

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Mental health and identity adjustment in older lesbian and gay adults: Assessing the role of whether their parents knew about their sexual orientation

Aging & Mental Health ◽

10.1080/13607863.2020.1765314 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Anthony Lyons ◽

Beatrice Alba ◽

Andrea Waling ◽

Victor Minichiello ◽

Mark Hughes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Sexual Orientation ◽

Lesbian And Gay

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Confronting Heterosexism in the Teaching of Psychology

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1207/s15328023top2304_3 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 220-226 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Jane M. Simoni

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Current Psychology ◽

Gay Men ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Accurate Information ◽

Psychological Issues ◽

Lesbian And Gay ◽

Gay Male ◽

Teaching Of Psychology ◽

Psychology Curriculum

Psychology is not immune from the biases of its cultural context, including the devaluation of homosexuality. Historically, the profession has pathologized nonheterosexual orientations and failed to cultivate an appreciation of and sensitivity toward diversity in sexual orientation. Part of the instructor's role is to challenge prevailing heterosexist assumptions and provide accurate information about the psychology of lesbians and gay men. This article presents a rationale for making the psychology curriculum more inclusive of lesbian and gay male issues. Results are presented from a survey of current psychology textbooks that indicate inadequate coverage and segregated treatment of the topic of homosexuality. Finally, suggestions are provided to instructors for expanding coverage of lesbian and gay male psychological issues and avoiding heterosexist bias.

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Doing Everything: Intersections of Gender and Sexual Orientation in Caregiving for a Spouse With Dementia

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1890 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 492-492

Author(s):

Toni Calasanti ◽

Brian de Vries

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Gender And Sexuality ◽

Heterosexual Men ◽

Gender Inequalities ◽

Lesbian And Gay ◽

Heterosexual Women ◽

Unpaid Labor ◽

And Gender ◽

The Life Course ◽

Depth Interviews

Abstract Gender inequalities are rooted in and drive the division of labor over the life course, which result in heterosexual men and women acquiring different resources, skills, and identities. Gendered differences in caregiving reflect these varying gender repertoires. Whether and how these repertoires vary by sexual orientation is lesser understood. Our qualitative study seeks to explore the ways that sexual orientation and gender, and the related division of both paid and unpaid labor, shapes caregiving for a spouse or partner with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (AD). Our data, obtained from in-depth interviews conducted among lesbian (n=9), gay (n=6), and heterosexual spousal and partner (23 women and 14 men) caregivers of those with AD, reveal that, although all the caregivers spoke about “having to do everything,” with a particular focus on decision-making, they interpret this experience differently based on the intersections of gender and sexuality. The heterosexual women reported they were used to managing daily household life, yet they described having to make decisions as quite stressful: “I don’t like to be the boss.” Heterosexual husbands also lamented that they “had to do everything,” but commenting that they hadn’t realized what it took to “manage a household.” The concerns reported by lesbian and gay spouses and partners were similarly situated but more varied, as each group tended to report their previous divisions of labor as “less well-defined.” Our findings reflect both the influence of gender inequalities on how respondents experience “doing everything,” and their potential modification in same-sex relationships.

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Comfort Among Older Lesbian and Gay People in Disclosing Their Sexual Orientation to Health and Aged Care Services

Journal of Applied Gerontology ◽

10.1177/0733464820925330 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 073346482092533 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anthony Lyons ◽

Beatrice Alba ◽

Andrea Waling ◽

Victor Minichiello ◽

Mark Hughes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Service Providers ◽

Care Service ◽

Internalized Homophobia ◽

Well Being ◽

Aged Care ◽

Care Providers ◽

Community Connectedness ◽

Lesbian And Gay ◽

Care Services

Being comfortable in disclosing one’s sexual orientation to health and aged care providers is important for older lesbian and gay adults, given that nondisclosure is associated with poorer health and well-being outcomes. In a sample of 752 lesbian and gay adults aged 60 years and older living in Australia, we found only 51% of lesbian women and 64% of gay men felt fully comfortable to disclose their sexual orientation to health and aged care service providers. For both the women and the men, those who felt fully comfortable to disclose reported significantly less internalized homophobia; had fewer experiences of discrimination in the past year; and reported greater lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community connectedness. Feeling fully comfortable was also predicted by fewer experiences of lifetime discrimination among the men. These findings may help those seeking to assist older lesbian and gay people in feeling comfortable and being open with health and aged care service providers.

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Leveraging Sexual Orientation Workforce Diversity through Identity Deployment

Handbook of Research on Workforce Diversity in a Global Society ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-1812-1.ch024 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 403-424 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Apoorva Ghosh

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Organizational Climate ◽

Associated Factors ◽

Identity Management ◽

Perceived Burdensomeness ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Organizational Contexts ◽

Lesbian And Gay ◽

Disclosure Decisions ◽

Unexplored Area

Disclosure decisions for lesbian and gay employees have been researched in organizational contexts. While the dilemmas associated, factors affecting, and situations encouraging or discouraging disclosure have been studied, the relatively unexplored area is how homosexuality can be strategically deployed at workplace to contest the associated stigma and bring positive social and political changes in the organizational climate. While scholars believe that remaining closeted may be the best strategy in a heterosexist and homophobic environment, studies report psychological strain, lack of authenticity, behavioral dilemmas, etc. experienced by closeted individuals, which, at minimum, lead to conflicts in daily situations of identity management and, at the peak, suicidal attempts due to perceived burdensomeness and failed belongingness. To address this dilemma in leveraging sexual orientation diversity in workplaces, this chapter deals with the framework of identity deployment offered by Bernstein (1997) to explore how homosexuality can be deployed in the workplace.

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Workplace Incivility as Modern Sexual Prejudice

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260515621083 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (12) ◽

pp. 1978-2004 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Donatella Di Marco ◽

Helge Hoel ◽

Alicia Arenas ◽

Lourdes Munduate

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Sexual Prejudice ◽

Workplace Incivility ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Lesbian And Gay

Although discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is prohibited by law in many countries, negative prejudices against Lesbian and Gay (LG) people, as a stigmatized minority, might be internalized by co-workers, being a source of a modern and subtle form of discrimination. Results from 39 in-depth semi-structured interviews with LG employees show that they are victims of workplace incivility which is manifested through jokes, use of language, stereotypes, and intrusive behaviors. Such acts are barely recognizable as a form of discrimination, due to the absence of any reference to sexual orientation, and for this reason it is more difficult to act against them at an organizational level. This is the first study that demonstrates how workplace incivility toward LG employees can be an expression of a subtle form of discrimination. It shows that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation has not disappeared; it has simply changed its manifestations. Contributions and implications of the study are discussed from a theoretical and a practical perspective.

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