Do you think it's necessary to Come Out at work..?

[justbry87]

I've always wondered if other LGBT people had this problem.

I've had a lot of different jobs in the my years. Some lasted more than others, and in some
I was out and in others I wasn't.

The places where I wasn't I out, no one really asked me if I was gay or not. I just acted the way I normally acted and people never said anything.

Is it necessary for people to know your gay at work; specially if you just work with them and aren't friends let alone family.

[Dreamer]

No,
of course it's not necessary.

You're there to make money.

If you want to get closer with
coworkers,
go ahead!

It's really up to you
how invested you are
in having a social component to your job.

[mbennet35]

The most important thing is what you feel comfortable with. I think it's great when I person has pride for who they are but I also think it is nice when people just want to blend it. Not hide it but not annouce it either if someone ask then you can come out to them. If you are friends with your co works and trust them and you want to be closer to them you could but I don't think coming out to everyone is necessary.

[trialbyerror]

Depends
At senior management level, in my experiance, it has proven to be the best policy as it negates any possibility of coersion / blackmail /retribution to disiplinary issues and such matters.

You do however have to be strong enough to deal with snide comments from lower management /shop-floor mentality, without pulling the grievence procedure card.

A good back-bitch usually get's the job done... If the protaganist chooses to open that door in front of a collegue, then deal with it there and and then.

Mostly, people don't actually give a damn.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Well you don't need to take out an interoffice memo, but my policy since coming out is to be honest about it.

If someone asks 'Do you have a girlfriend' I will say 'nope, got a boyfriend though' unless I don't have one then leave it at 'nope'.

[Wade]

Well you don't need to take out an interoffice memo, but my policy since coming out is to be honest about it.

If someone asks 'Do you have a girlfriend' I will say 'nope, got a boyfriend though' unless I don't have one then leave it at 'nope'.

This is an interesting topic to me as well. I've always followed the same policy Bowyn. I don't voluntarily offer the fact that I'm gay to most people, work people in this case, but I don't deny or hide it, so if it comes up, I would say that I am gay, or I do have a boyfriend.

(that is the longest and possibly most convoluted sentence ever. My apologies.)

However, in my case, I've never had the opportunity to say "yes, I have a boyfriend." When some people at my old work place did find out I identify as gay (it's a gay friendly work environment) through, you know, people talking, then it became a situation of "why were you making an effort to hide it?"

Is "eh, it just never came up" a good enough answer? And I did feel like I was hiding it, but there's never a good time to just blurt out "I'm gay you know" without it looking like a cry for attention. In that case I imagine other people thinking to themselves "Okay... fine... whatever. No one cares dude. Stop making it such a big deal."

In my mind it's a lose-lose situation. Then again, the irony is most people (in this progressive era we live in) truly don't care one way or another... so just by giving the matter this much thought I've defeated the purpose of trying to live my life as if my sexuality is not a big deal.



You're probably confused... I am too. Sorry.

[starbelly]

I don't think it is. Some of my co-workers who I'm close to know, but my boss is super homophobic from what I can tell so I see no reason to let them know. I'd rather not have that friction to worry about. I'm there to make money and help put me through school. I don't see it necessary or fit.

[VileKyle]

I think it's about as necessary as coming out as straight. Why does it matter to everyone what your sexual orientation is in the workplace?

[LONDONER]

I think it's about as necessary as coming out as straight. Why does it matter to everyone what your sexual orientation is in the workplace?

Agree 100%

[Bricg1970]

At work I have friends and I'm out for them, no problem. I have read once that you must take care of the source of income and not coming out at work if this may cause you problems.