1. Are you out at work? 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? This is very important for me to know, because I will have to think about job and outing soon.
1. Are you out at work? - Only to a few people I can trust and who are open-minded. 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? No. No effect. In South Africa, our constitution prevents discrimination based on sexuality. 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? Nope. I simply choose not to be as open or represent. 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? It depends... the workplace is liberal but the people are not always. Good luck for the job
1. Are you out at work? Yes. Not too openly, as in 'not immediately telling every newcomer', but anyone who asks around will know. 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? No, the company has a pretty friendly attitude towards LGBTQ+ in general (we've had events, T-shirts, flags, stickers with pronouns to wear, etc.). Some of the managers are gay, too, so I'd assume this is not a deterrent. 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? No. 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? More on the liberal side, although then it comes down to individuals as well (as usual everywhere?).
1. Are you out at work? Yes, in terms if being gay, it's fairly obvious through the things I talk about, references to things in my life, I have a photo of myself with my partner on my desk. I also express my gender openly at work, I only wear men's clothes. (I consider myself genderqueer). 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? Not on raise/promotions, my boss is homophobic (and more openly transphobic) but he does seem to maintain focus on my work performance. His comments in the past and his outlook on the LGBT community make me uncomfortable but his attitude towards me as a person is ok and I do believe he respects my work. 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? Not exactly, not in terms of work. In my case, I stuck my neck out in a moment of passion for helping others; I made a suggestion at one point to make ties with the LGBT community through volunteer work and a few similar ideas. That opened a whole can of homophobic worms, and I've put aside the idea in interest of job security, but I've documented everything he said. 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? I consider it conditionally liberal. The overall atmosphere is progressive but I suppose my boss is an example of less progressive individuals in the office. Good luck with your decision. This is very specific to context. Feel things out, trust your instincts. What kind of industry are you in?
I should add that it is overall a good experience for me; I have the luck of not having to worry about the practical aspects, it is relatively ok in terms of professional relercussions for me. I feel safe overall as well. I care of course what people think of me as well, but I wanted to be out even if it created an uncomfortable social environment, so that freedom of being myself has been very rewarding for me.
I am out at work, always have been. I don't think it has had any influence, nor do I think anyone has ever worried about me representing the firm. As far as whether my workplace is liberal or conservative that's complicated. I work for a large investment firm which is sort of by its nature pretty conservative, but we tend to come down on the right side of social issues so it's hard to say...
1. Employer knows my sexual orientation but I don't project or desire to make it an issue around mainly straight co workers 2. My sexuality certainly hasn't made it easier to gain raises or promotions but I won't say it has hindered me either. You are there to work and do a good job, do so and you'll find the workplace and your sexuality can coexist just fine together. 3. No.In travel recommendations and Corporate policy handbooks it is strongly advised you do NOT do things that may misrepresent the Company or yourself or put you in danger. I believe in most modern workplaces your opportunities for future representation of your company to outside forces will be determined by how well you conducted yourself during prior forays and believe me, this trend applies just as equally to straight people. 4. My workplace is conservative but don't let that scare you. MOST corporate employment opportunities come with strict tolerance rules and codes of conduct policies that will protect you from workplace discrimination and harassment. This trend is increasing as more and more employers have come to realize a top quality employee is not best selected based on sexual orientation, race, gender, or religious conviction.
1. No ... not really relevant to my work because I am a single, divorced guy with an adult child. I would come out at work if I were involved in a serious relationship with someone. 2. Obviously has had no effect on my pay/status and I don't think my firm (l'm a lawyer) would factor in anyone's sexuality in terms of pay/status ... it's all about the quality of the work and client relations. 3. I would say that the lawyers in my firm are split 50/50 in terms of conservative and liberal, but as we are in the Bay Area everyone has the good sense not to make any comment or take any overt action that would be considered discriminatory on any prohibited basis (race, gender, sexuality etc.)
1. Are you out at work? Yes, but only as it comes up. I don't advertise but I don't lie either. 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? Not directly, but I struggle with self-acceptance, and not fully accepting self affects confidence and follow-through. I've also felt like heterosexism makes it challenging for a LGBT person to break the ice in typical water cooler talk. 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? No. If anything I'm sometimes likened to a poster child of their culture of acceptance, which I don't like. However I'm in a progressive field and we don't have overly complicated questions of image. In the past I was in big-4 management consulting and that was troubling because the firm I was with is quite conservative and I would feel hard-pressed to see senior positions with out queer folk. I don't think it was an intentional effort to oppress, but just a lack of awareness of how much the "club membership" in heteronormative customs matters when building rapport and trust. 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? I work in tech which is very progressive, but can also be a very alpha-male culture too. At times I've felt like I don't fit in because it's alpha-male, not necessarily because I'm gay. It's also very common for others to break the ice talking about their families, and I am single. So, I'm always finding other things to talk about or reminding myself that they're not necessarily homophobic just because they're alpha-male. In tech you often get more mileage out of shooting a nerf gun at someone than having a decent conversation. This is very important for me to know, because I will have to think about job and outing soon. In my opinion it's best to be yourself and just let yourself be out in the process of conversation. Unless you sense an imminent risk I wouldn't worry about it. On the other hand, trust your gut if you don't necessarily trust what's on the surface.
1. Yes, I am. 2. No. It's illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sexuality. 3. On the contrary. My employer attends many Pride events and asks for LGBT representation. 4. The company has the right ideas, but some members of staff need 'educating'.
I know I'm answering late but thank you everyone. You helped me a lot. @baristajedi: Think a lot of people in suits and much money involved. This is what I'm aiming for.
1. Are you out at work? --Yes. Several current and former co-workers were among the first people I came out to, and I make no secret of being gay, having a partner, etc. That being said, I don't inject it into every conversation and don't over-share, any more than I did when I was in the closet. It's appropriate to the conversation. 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? --Absolutely not. I've only been out 3-4 years, but my raises and promotions have always been appropriate for my job performance. I didn't get a raise for a couple years after I came out, but I was also burned out and not working up to what I had previously done, and had also gone through a management change that I didn't deal well with. (Besides which, I have only had a straight boss for less than 2 of the past dozen years, so it was largely irrelevant when I came out.) 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? --No, never. In fact, we just started using Yammer at work and a lesbian co-worker started a LGBT group. I was member #2, and we've gotten very positive feedback from HR for being "brave" enough to do it. Come to think of it, a lot of people talk about how brave I was, which makes me laugh a bit considering I came out in my 50's; "brave" would probably have been coming out 30 years earlier! 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? --It's a very odd and diverse mix. I work for a large company that has grown by acquisition. The original company was pretty liberal and had an LGBT group 20 years ago. We were bought by a very conservative one and then absorbed another that was conservative in appearance but had a kind of rebellious undercurrent. So there's a lot of both, and I try to respect that in conversation. And I'm generally pretty conservative myself.
1. Are you out at work? No 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? Not out but if I was, it would kill my career. 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? Not out so does not apply! 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? Its full of Trumpers...
1. Are you out at work? Yes. 2. If yes, do you think outing had an influence on your raises/promotions, be they good or bad? I just moved and started this teaching job, so I'm not sure. Ask me at the holiday season when instructors usually get bonuses! 3. Have you ever been told that you should/should not represent your company because you are LGBT? Yes! So, I teach at a very weird school, but several of us (who are queer, bi, lesbian, respectively) were told we cannot create a LBTQA club for our students, who requested one. We were told it discriminates against religious students. Guess which religious students... 4. How liberal/conservative is your workplace? My immediate boss is SUPER christian and SUPER conservative. Like, I've never felt "oppressed" by a christian (minus my family) and I make sure all of my students, including my christian students, feel welcomed, but this woman shoves it down our throats. It's terrifying. All of my colleagues are liberal Coloradans.
1. Yes. 2. No. 3. No. 4. Fairly liberal. But I've been out at all of my jobs. It's never been an issue.
1, about my sexuality? yes. about my gender? only my regional manager. 2. no, not yet anyway. 3. no, but im not in a position that calls for that anyway. 4, bit of a mix but more conservative.
