Problems persist in the workplace for gays and lesbians

Up to half of the UK's lesbians and gay men do not feel able to reveal their sexuality to all those they work with, according to research from Out Now Consulting, Diva and Gay Times Readers Surveys. The research also found that as many as one in ten gay men, and one in eight lesbians were harassed at work in 2005 because of their sexuality.

According to the research, only 52% of gay men and 51% of lesbians say they can be completely honest about their sexuality with their work colleagues. Official Whitehall figures released last month say that 6% of the UK adult population, or around 3 million people, are lesbian or gay.

"Being accepted by the government is a big step forward in terms of Civil Partnerships, but being able to be yourself at work is something all workers in the UK really ought to be able to do," says Ian Johnson, managing director of Out Now Consulting, a specialist gay marketing consultancy.

"These figures show that this is not currently the case for a large number of UK lesbians and gay men," says Johnson. "In the medium to long term that affects workplace productivity, loyalty and ultimately can result in otherwise well-qualified lesbian and gay staff leaving a job because they can no longer keep up a pretence of being heterosexual. UK workplaces need to improve on these figures both as a matter of social justice and also as a matter of business profits and workplace productivity."

The report by Out Now Consulting, was undertaken following independent research with more than 1,000 readers of Diva and Gay Times magazines between March and October 2005. Sample size is 1118 respondents.

(This article first appeared in Gay Times magazine.)

Out Now Consulting

Gay Times Magazine

Diva Magazine