Equality and diversity in the public services: moving forward on lesbian, gay and bisexual equality?

Abstract

A key change for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in the European Union has been the prohibition by the Employment Equality Directive (2000) of discrimination in employment on grounds of sexual orientation. This article focuses on the UK, which in 2003 introduced legislation making it unlawful to discriminate on these grounds. It explores the factors encouraging ‘good practice’ in sexual orientation equality work. It considers progress within the public services that have ‘pioneered’ sexual orientation equalities work, drawing on the views of LGB employees, management and trade union stakeholders. The recent legislation is considered to have provided a major impetus for change; however, an emerging ‘business case’ within the public service modernisation agenda is considered to have provided both opportunities and barriers to progress. A challenge for HR practitioners is getting organisational commitment to sexual orientation work, which is still perceived within organisations as a ‘sensitive’ area.

Gay men in the performing arts: Performing sexualities within ‘gay-friendly’ work contexts

“…In the context of emerging scholarly debates about organisational forms described as 'gay-friendly' (Correia and Kleiner, 2001;Colgan et al, 2007Colgan et al, , 2009Williams et al, 2009;Giuffre et al, 2008;Williams and Giuffre, 2011), this article has examined how a sample of gay male performers in the UK negotiate the heteronormativities that inform the array of (in)formal encounters and interactions with drama school educators, casters, agents and peers in specific performing work contexts. The analysis above has developed the argument that it should not be assumed that places of work understood and experienced as 'gay-friendly' constitute 'new' organisational forms in which heteronormativities are eradicated.…”

“…In the sexuality of organisation literature, emerging studies on 'gay-friendly' organisations, employers and workplaces have largely focused on 'good practice' which serves to signal them as such and how they are understood and experienced by LGBT employees. While some of this scholarship acknowledges that 'gay-friendly' organisations do not represent a new model of organisation free from homophobia (Colgan et al, 2007(Colgan et al, , 2009Giuffre et al, 2008;Williams et al, 2009), not all of it acknowledges and analyses the complex and ambiguous relationship between 'gay-friendly' organisations and heteronormativity (Rumens, 2014). In line with Williams et al (2009) and, at the same time, adding a different dimension to a developing 'queer' organisation studies and sexuality literature (Parker, 2002;Lee et al, 2008;Harding et al, 2011;Rumens, 2010Rumens, , 2012Tindall and Waters, 2012;Tyler and Cohen, 2008;Williams et al, 2009;Williams and Giuffre, 2011), we aver that queer theories provide a sharp analytical focus on how heteronormativity operates to categorise and regulate sexualities, with the aim of denaturalising the master binary heterosexuality/homosexuality which determines what identities,…”

Voice, silence, and diversity in 21st century organizations: Strategies for inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees

“…Although Keane's article was not about secrecy relating to sexual orientation or the U.S. military, the impact of secrecy about sexual orientation on communication and cognitive and social controls and the broad organizational relevance is clear. Being forced to remain closeted to avoid termination is one way in which GLBT employees are silenced (Colgan, Wright, Creegan, & McKearney, 2009). Fears of termination may be extreme.…”

A produção científica sobre sexualidade nos estudos organizacionais: uma análise das publicações realizadas entre 2005 e 2014

“…No que diz respeito especificamente a esse último ponto citado pelos autores anteriores, Colgan et al (2009) examinaram até que ponto a lei e/ou projetos de negócios são considerados como norteadores da igualdade sexual no trabalho. A pesquisa foi realizada no Reino Unido, no contexto da legislação The Employment Equality Directive (2000), implementada na Europa, proibindo a discriminação com base na orientação sexual.…”