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Discrimination

Work is important to everyone. Of course it is about money and status, but for most people job satisfaction, feeling comfortable at work and getting on with the people you work with is also very important.

Discrimination at work can have a devastating effect on people’s lives. Take the example of Shirley Pearce:

"Shirley was a science teacher for 27 years, but her last years of teaching were marred by constant harassment. One day the contents of a tin of cat food were emptied into her pockets, and she was taunted and threatened by pupils because they had discovered that she was a lesbian. The school would not take the problem seriously and she was put under pressure to take early retirement."

All the research shows that Shirley’s experience is not uncommon. Many people still fear being out at work.

In 1993 Stonewall conducted a survey of over 2,000 lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. The survey resulted in a report ”Less Equal Than Others” and showed that:

• 16% of respondents (1 in 6) had at least one experience of discrimination; a further 21% (1 in 5) suspected they had. 8% had actually been dismissed because of their sexuality.
  
• 48% of respondents (nearly 1 in 2) said they had been harassed because of their sexuality. The harassment described ranged from mild to very serious, and included unwanted jokes, innuendo and loaded comments, verbal abuse, being sent to Coventry, malicious gossip, name-calling, bullying and victimisation, being ‘outed’, false accusations of child abuse, graffiti, abusive phone calls, anonymous mail, damage to property, blackmail, violence and even death threats.
  
• 24% of respondents (1 in 4) had avoided certain jobs, careers or employers for fear of discrimination because of their sexuality.
  
• Two thirds of respondents who were working concealed their sexuality from people they worked with. 19% concealed their sexuality from some people. Only 11% of all respondents never concealed their sexuality at work.

These figures show that discrimination by employers is only part of the problem facing lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in the workplace. Harassment is probably the most serious problem. And discrimination avoidance, such as being in the closet, is the most common experience, affecting even those who have not actually suffered discrimination or harassment but fear they might if they were to ‘come out’.

Existing discrimination against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals at work has been confirmed by another study by the TUC in 1999.

Out of some 450 lesbian, gay or bisexual trade unionists asked about their experience at work, no less than 44% reported that they had suffered discrimination because of their sexuality. In the worst cases this involved dismissal, but a very large number reported instances of name-calling and homophobic abuse.

Discrimination against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in employment was also reported in the 1995 study by the Social and Community Planning Research Council:

Discrimination against gay men and lesbians. A study of the nature and extent of discrimination against homosexual men and women in Britain today.

According to the report:

• 43% had experienced insults shouted in a public place
  
• 32% kept their homosexuality secret from their employers and colleagues
  
• 25% had been physically threatened or attacked
  
• 21% had been harassed at work
  
• 11% had suffered other forms of discrimination or ill treatment
  
• 8% had been refused promotion

For the full report (£15) please contact the National Centre for Social Research: www.natcen.ac.uk. Call the Publications Officer on 020 7549 8520.

* Stonewall accept no responsibility for the content of external sites.