New Research: Lots of Gay Men Hiding Their Gay at Work

It might be 2016 but there’s still some way to go when it comes to society’s dealings with the LGBTQ community. Especially in the work place.

New research by the University of Cincinnati has found that gay men often hide or ‘manage’ their sexuality in corporate jobs. 

Travis Dean Speice, who lead the research, says that his findings show that gay men often feel they have to change certain distinctive body language behaviours and gestures in order to avoid ‘potential negative consequences from co-workers’.

He conducted in-depth interviews with 30 gay men between 22-52, and asked them to think about the concepts of masculinity, femininity, and gayness.

He also asked about how they came out and their specific job titles – which he says is where gay men often try to manipulate their identities.

‘From the initial (job) interview to moving up the ladder at work, if a gay man feels his supervisors don’t agree with a gay population, he may not want to reveal his sexuality to them,’ says Travis.

He says that men are worried about their sexuality affecting chances of promotion or even being hired in the first place.

And that can mean changing the way they dress, the way they talk and whether or not they open up about your private life at work.

Travis calls these adaptations ‘hegemonic sexuality’ – a tool for avoiding unwanted scrutiny.

The interviewees referred to some men as being ‘too gay’, and this was associated with certain kinds of body language, speech patterns and dress sense which they were keen to avoid in professional settings.

(Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Many of the study’s participants believed that particular colours or patterns on clothing could give their sexuality away, and often opted to dress somberly and formally.

A social worker who Travis interviewed said that he once wore ‘burnt orange khakis’ to work one morning and when he went to visit a correctional institute later that day, realized that all the inmates were staring at him.

‘The colour of his clothes was significant in his perception of his own masculinity and gay identity, but later became too flamboyant in the face of scrutiny… the inmates had suddenly gained a sliver of power over him.

‘Although there is no hard, fast rule for general masculinity, there are lots of anxieties related to identity management and self presentation for gay men in many professional settings,’ Travis explains.

We spoke to Mark*, 24, who identifies as gay and is about to start a trainee scheme with Teach First. He says that he doesn’t plan on revealing his sexual identity on the course. Before starting university, he was in the navy.

‘The navy was the most macho place – it was awful for the guys who did come out, I mean just awful,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.

‘Generally, the more male-dominated the job, the more difficult it is to come out.’

Metro.co.uk