{"id":3964,"date":"2025-09-19T16:29:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T16:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/?p=3964"},"modified":"2025-09-19T16:37:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T16:37:40","slug":"implications-of-coming-out-of-the-lgbt-closet-in-the-work-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/ephemerides\/implications-of-coming-out-of-the-lgbt-closet-in-the-work-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming Out Day: Implications of coming out LGBT+ in the work environment"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">On more than one occasion, an LGBT+ person may feel pressure and even confusion as to whether it's the right time to come out. And yes, this thinking happens in the work environment as well.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Coming out is a very important step for any LGBT+ person.<\/strong>for it is the moment in which <strong>decides to live free and calls himself a member of this group.<\/strong>. However, the process to get to this point is not always simple, because <strong>each person experiences something very different according to his or her context<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Insecurities about coming out can happen in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. <\/strong>This means that they are also latent in the workplace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is there an International Coming Out Day?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>October 11 is International Coming Out Day<\/strong><em>,<\/em> this date <strong>began to be commemorated in the United States<\/strong> and is currently relevant in many other territories, including Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This event was celebrated for the first time in 1998 in Washington (United States). <\/strong>Some of the <strong>activists who promoted it were Robert Eichberg and Jean O'Leary<\/strong>. The reason why this day was chosen was that<strong> coincided with the anniversary of Washington's second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.<\/strong>which <strong>happened on October 11, 1987<\/strong> and attracted 200,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does coming out imply in the work environment?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LGBT+ people never stop coming out of the closet<\/strong>. This happens because we are in a different context all the time. <strong>Some of us may declare our identity at school, in our family and with our friends. <\/strong>However, every time we meet someone new, there may be the<strong> fear of not knowing how they will react to knowing that we are someone who does not fit the orientation dictated to us by the heteronorma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we move into the world of work, it is important that we specify that <strong>no person is obliged to come out of the closet<\/strong>. This is an individual decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The fears surrounding coming out of the closet in this context can be very varied.<\/strong>. For example, perhaps <strong>a gay man believes he will no longer be viewed with the same authority if he is in a management position.<\/strong>. Or, a <strong>trans person may be afraid of facing social rejection at work.<\/strong>. And all of this is caused by the prejudice that LGBT+ people constantly face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although many companies in Mexico and around the world have adopted LGBT+ inclusion policies, we still have a long way to go.<strong> According to the National Survey on Sexual and Gender Diversity (Endiseg) 2021, 28.1% of respondents faced rejection in their jobs. <\/strong>This included unequal treatment with respect to the <strong>benefits, employment benefits or promotions <\/strong>and up to <strong>receive offensive comments<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this information it is easier to understand why some people are still afraid to express their identity in their workspaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can a company do to help a person come out at work?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Companies can help<\/strong> to someone having the confidence to come out of the closet to the <strong>provide a safe and equal opportunity environment<\/strong>. This encompasses LGBT+ people having the <strong>same employment benefits and promotion opportunities<\/strong> than those who are not part of this population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, <strong>it is ideal to promote internally the <a href=\"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/labor-inclusion\/what-is-erg-employee-resource-groups-importance-organizations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">creation of ERG<\/a> related to LGBT+ issues<\/strong>. This will help employees have a clear vision that they are in an organization where diversity is accepted. <strong>And not only is the creation of the ERG important, it is also necessary to <a href=\"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/labor-inclusion\/how-to-professionalize-an-affinity-group-erg-tips-and-tricks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to promote participation in it<\/a><\/strong> at all levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One important thing is that<strong> employees will have the final say on whether or not they decide to come out of the closet in their jobs.<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hopefully, in the future, there will be no such thing as closets. Until that happens, <strong>the only thing a company can do is to make visible, support and give equal treatment to all LGBT+ people, so that those who are still afraid to come out of the closet can do so when they feel ready.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Have you ever thought about the implications of someone coming out at work?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>With information from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/mundo\/noticias-45829210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>BBC<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homosensual.com\/lgbt\/origen-expresion-fecha-dia-para-salir-closet-coming-out-day-11-octubre\/\"><em>Homosensual<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20070326092700\/http:\/\/query.nytimes.com\/gst\/fullpage.html?sec=health&amp;res=9B0DE7DA1E3CF931A25753C1A961948260\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>New York Times<\/em><\/a> e <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inegi.org.mx\/contenidos\/programas\/endiseg\/2021\/doc\/endiseg_2021_resultados.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Inegi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research and editing by Jos\u00e9 Manuel R\u00edos and Mildred P\u00e9rez de la Torre<br><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A company can help its staff feel confident to come out of the closet, learn how.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[70,71,72,73],"class_list":["post-3964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-efemerides","tag-diversidad","tag-equidad","tag-inclusion","tag-inclusion-laboral"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3964"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3997,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964\/revisions\/3997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprodiverso.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}