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Homophobia in

Blog Editor's Note: Speaking of May 1 Labor Day we invite you to reflect on the employment situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Our fight successfully culminate the day, breaking a transmission schemes is a bank manager or a male lesbian minister of state. Ricardo Montenegro-Vásquez

Homophobia at work by Line Chamberland

Despite his excellent skills, Estela lost his job as archivist when his employer learned of her lesbianism . The same thing happened to Alexandra, a professor specializing in youth and adults with metal deficiencies: the employer pretext staff reorganization but only she was fired. Catherine and Alexis, union members and beneficiaries of unemployment insurance, have been transferred but not dismissed: Catherine his superiors forced him to ask for a transfer to another sector, saying that teenagers in difficulty with those who worked could bring false accusations against him of sexual harassment. As for Alexis, had to shift because his boss felt that there could be an instructor in the construction industry, not because he was incompetent, but because this medium was too close to homosexuality . René, specialist in special education, retained his post but was withdrawn all students in their charge, is isolated from the rest of the staff , in short, did everything to push him to leave the post of his own accord ...

Here are some examples of the effects of homophobia , which can be defined as the expression of an aversion or intolerance toward homosexuals. In the workplace, its manifestations vary in severity. There is, first, the widespread homophobia that takes the form of jokes, ridicule, prejudice, rude comments, graffiti . Often, this homophobia is not addressed to any particular individual but to homosexuals or homosexuality in general. Is present, more or less intense, in most work environments, and is more pronounced in male dominated jobs which enhances virility. Because to its indirect nature, often diluted in the mood, expressions of homophobia may seem trivial fuzzy or dull. However, they carry messages that hurt and humiliate gays and lesbians who listen. Here / as placed on the defensive: "in this context, must disclose their homosexuality or shut up?

direct Homophobia is defined by attitudes that reject or devalue gays and lesbians who define themselves as such in their workplace, as well as those suspected to be. Here are some examples: stay away or break communication, refusal to cooperate in carrying out the work, mess tools or workplace, question the competence or professional reputation of an individual to disclose their sexual orientation without his consent or threaten to do so, point it out constantly and insistently in all dealings we have with him, particularly before third, show excessive curiosity towards their sexuality critical guide for gays and lesbians as a whole, as if the person had to or could speak on behalf of the entire group. In short, all interactions are marked and biased by the fact that the person is homosexual and that to disqualify. Direct homophobia contributes to the marginalization of gays and lesbians in the workplace and even to exclude, affecting their ability to integrate into the environment and the exercise of their professional duties.

Finally, one can speak of a homophobic environment, where the manifestations of homophobia take a constant character or exacerbated, when open hostility toward gays and lesbians is no longer the exception but involving several colleagues and superiors in the workplace. In this context, the manifestations of homophobia are all isolated or occasional but frequent and daily. To this, add the serious incidents as dismissals, intimidation or physical attacks , while the workplace tolerates the existence of such a climate, and the authorities do not provide no protection for workers potentially victims of homophobia. In short, in a climate of homophobia and intolerance, any expression of homosexuality is negatively sanctioned and attempt, through various means, to expel gays and lesbians. Discriminatory treatment



As the examples above illustrate, homophobia generates discriminatory treatment of gay and lesbian workers: denied hiring, not to call for temporary or contract jobs, denial of stability or promotion , barriers to professional development, pressure or unfair dismissal for the resignation . Where the law prohibits direct discrimination, it is camouflaged under false pretenses, complicating access to legal remedies for persons who are victims. In a recent survey conducted in Quebec, where since 1977, the Charter of the rights of the person prohibits discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, "9.8% of gays and lesbians surveyed admit to having suffered discrimination over the past five years, 7.6% harassment, psychological violence, 9.2% and 1% or verbal and physical violence. Job insecurity and the fact of belonging to minority groups (women, ethnic and cultural minorities, indigenous, people with disabilities) increases the risk of discrimination and the disastrous consequences that this entails. In this study, we see that lesbians are more reluctant than gay men to reveal their sexual orientation in the workplace because they fear discrimination as well as women.

In most countries, discrimination is also of a systemic, when neither the law nor the employer recognize same-sex couples and families they form. Homosexual persons are then deprived of the economic and social benefits linked to marital and family status, advantages that benefit their heterosexual colleagues, concerning, for example, social security, pensions, sick leave or death of someone close, etc. This is an obvious injustice as these benefits, which are fixed by law or have been negotiated in collective agreements apply in principle to all workers concerned. In addition, some schemes are financed jointly by employees and the employer, meaning that gay and lesbian workers make their contributions, and yet are excluded from the benefits they mean.

homophobic behaviors in the workplace are based on heterosexist representations, ie representations that establish and maintain a hierarchy of sexualities. On the one hand, heterosexuality is positioned as "natural" so obvious that the appointment is not intrinsically valued. On the other hand, the stereotypes constructed the categories of gay and lesbian assigning, in a generalized and simplistic, or lifestyle characteristics, usually negative, that would be theirs. They give a distorted picture of the lives of gay people and hide various aspects. In your workplace, gays and lesbians are perceived and judged through the prism of this reducer.

stereotypes of gay effeminate "and" male lesbian "are among the most common and provide the pretext for ridicule. Thus, the work environment feel that to be accepted, a "good gay" should not look too effeminate, nor show too much sexual preferences, which, for some, is the same. That is, should remain invisible and gender to portray "normal" so that their presence is tolerated. To draw the line between what is acceptable or not, this coercive pressure maintains standards of masculinity and femininity. Those men and women whose appearance deviates too much from the prescribed gender, are exposed to vilification and marginalization. The gender nonconformity may hamper the chances of employment or promotion within the company. For example, a lesbian will not be considered too masculine roles allocated for public performance or customer services. discrimination based on sexual orientation, then, is disguised by reference to the traditional models of gender. Heterosexism binding on all persons, whatever their sexuality, the binary model hombre-masculino/mujer-femenino and helps to reproduce the sexual division of tasks in the capitalist organization of work. Transsexual and transgender people are also heavily discriminated against at work, in particular, access and stability in employment.

Consistent with religious prohibitions and medical discredited homosexuality remains a sin, disease or abnormality, what would justify that homosexuals are not treated equally and that they were not afforded the same rights and the same benefits granted to heterosexual couples. The confusion between homosexuality and pedophilia is common, in the centers that work with vulnerable social groups by their young age or their physical or mental condition, suspicions and accusations toward gays come quickly even when there is no foundation. Instead of combating prejudice, employers think organizing to solve the problem that no homosexual person on staff. Side of lesbian, sexuality between two women seems simply inconceivable outside the orbit of the heterosexual norm, specifically out of the desire of men. Sometimes the male lesbian fantasies fed, sometimes described as a choice out of spite, after a rejection by men, due to traumatic or disappointing heterosexual experiences, or an absence of positive experience with the opposite sex. Disrupting

prejudices

In contexts where gays and lesbians have gained equal rights and greater visibility in the public sphere, other prejudices come to juxtapose the most old and result in reluctance and negative reactions to these achievements. So you create a new prototype that emphasizes-Gay-unqualified rampant sexuality attributed to all gay men, his alleged wealth, his hedonistic lifestyle which would escape all restrictions and all liability. On the other hand, accuses homo families, mostly founded by lesbians, not to provide a balanced framework for the child, which absolutely require the presence of a father and a mother. Or, criticize the manifestations of pride, and festive events, the existence of specialized sites meeting: they are accused of being too fiery, to injure the image of gays and lesbians, of being locked into a ghetto, in short, losing their own integration in society.

face of homophobia in the workplace, gays and lesbians may decide to shut his homosexuality, reaching a mask constructed heterosexual when the environment is very hostile to protect and advance the negative consequences preserve their economic and sexual autonomy. Those who decide to leave the closet devoted much effort to disrupt heterosexist bias in their work environment. If you have the possibility, which is not always the case, some will opt for a career in centers open to homosexuality, even if it entails a cost in terms of salary and career. The impact of these individual strategies is limited, if no parallel collective struggle against homophobia and heterosexism. For that, you need organize, to speak in public spaces and ally with other political forces fighting work organization capitalist and patriarchal.

Line Chamberland Québec is a sociologist, professor at the University of Quebec at Montreal. Article published in the magazine América Latina en Movimiento, No. 420, "Dissident Sexualities"