Retaliatory Strike or Fired with Cause: A Case Study of Gay Identity Disclosure and Law Enforcement

Abstract

A relatively small amount of HRD research has focused on issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The majority that does exist tends to focus on issues assumed to cut across the entire LGBT community. However, a need exists for research that identifies and articulates the varied experiences of each of these identity groups. One emerging area of HRD research is to look at the experiences of gay men working in masculinized industries, where dated stereotypes regarding masculinity and sexuality often position gay men as exceptions to assumed male privilege. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of one gay male former law enforcement officer and how (non)disclosure in the masculinized industry context of law enforcement influenced and constrained his work experiences. The subject for the case was Mike Verdugo, formerly of the Hollywood, Florida, Police Department. Findings highlight the plausibility that a gay law enforcement officer might choose to come out at work because he dreads the potential repercussions of being outed by someone else in an environment that often produces conflicting narratives regarding being gay. Implications for HRD are discussed across the domains of learning, support, assessment, and research. It is suggested that HRD develop strategies to combat stigma and stereotypes related to gay identity, while actively seeking alternatives to accepted training, career development, and organizational norms. KeywordsGay men, law enforcement, case study, disclosure, organizational culture Despite mounting sociopolitical changes with regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) inclusion, a relatively small amount of Human Resource Development (HRD) literature has focused on issues for sexual minorities (Schmidt, Githens, Rocco, & Kormanik, 2012). As in most other fields, the majority of LGBT research in HRD has focused on issues assumed to cut across the entire LGBT community. Gedro (2013) noted the need for additional research differentiating the experiences of each of the individual LGBT groups. Publications addressing issues specifically for lesbians in mostly corporate settings

Breeding hate: A case study of training for ethnic cleansing in war‐torn Yugoslavia

“…Propositional content is the analysis of the text, even text tucked quietly within the transcript, for the ‘underlying story’ told by, and about, an exemplar (Collins & Callahan, 2012). This looks at and beyond words and their meaning, and instead considers the “narrative case's content as a whole, exploring both communicated and insinuated beliefs, actions, and events” (Collins, 2016, p. 29). Additionally, my interpretation of the patterns consistently repeated in the multiplicity of testimonies and source evidence is guided by theory.…”