This book uses narratives collected over a period of four years, detailing the stereotypes and stigmas attached to LGBTQ employees at the workplace in India, and it allows their voices to be heard. Further, it explores the strategies used by individuals from the LGBTQ community to pass on or reveal information related to their non-normative sexual orientation and gender identity at their workplace, and the way these strategies differ for individuals who are formally or informally 'out' as compared to those who are still in the closet or have come out to only a few people at their organization. The book emphasizes the need to study the flow of information and stigma management strategies in the context of current technological advancements, and discusses the extent to which organizations succeed in providing 'safe spaces' for employees from the LGBTQ community in India. Also addressing the impact of the Supreme Court verdict on Section 377 of the IPC and the NALSA verdict on LGBTQ individuals at the workplace, the book not only provides tools to help organizations assess their workplace climate with regard to LGBTQ inclusion and diversity, but also outlines the criteria that would lead to queer-friendly and gender-neutral work environments.

In Allies at Work, Dr. David M. Hall explains the value and importance of creating an equitable work environment for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Dr. Hall carefully explains the business rationale for developing a strong allies program, the requisite steps to develop such a program, and the cultural competency necessary to properly understand the impact of the closet.

This collection of case studies that model LGBTQ+ affirmative social work practice offers real-life scenarios from a range of social work scholars, educators, and practitioners, representing diverse sexualities, genders, and intersectional identities. Together, they demonstrate contemporary, multilevel, queer-affirming social work practice with LGBTQ+ people and communities. These fourteen case studies follow social workers across the country on their quest for quality service provision for vulnerable populations. Chapters explore issues such as finding trans-affirming care for teens, methamphetamine abuse among elderly gay men, previously exploited teens reentering foster care, navigating nonmonogamous relationships, and more. Each chapter offers concrete, comparative case formulation that depicts culturally responsive work with LGBTQ+ people by LGBTQ+ social workers. These diverse vignettes showcase a range of life experiences and explore how factors like religion, age, and immigration status affect social work practice. The case studies in this volume integrate best-practice standards and interventions, social work ethics and competencies, and clinical and critical theories. Queer Social Work is a progressive pedagogical tool that provides a forum for marginalized communities and individuals as well as the committed practitioners who serve them.

Drawn from in-depth qualitative research, Queer Company provides the first extended, academic analysis of gay men's workplace friendships, offering theoretical and empirical insights into a subject that is timely and important. Although theoretically framed in poststructuralism and the sociology of friendship, this book also draws on feminism, organisation studies, gender and sexuality studies to explore the diverse roles and meanings of gay men's workplace friendships. Shedding light on the significance of workplace friendship for those who participate in them, particularly in terms of how these workplace relationships can help gay men to construct meaningful identities and selves, Queer Company examines the manner in which gay men’s workplace friendships are established, developed and organised, whilst considering the effects of organisational contexts upon friendship processes. A detailed investigation of the links between friendship, sexuality, gender and intimacy in the workplace, this book will appeal to scholars of management studies as well as sociologists with interests in gender and sexuality, the sociology of organisations and cultural studies.

This book enters as a corrective to the tendency to trivialize and (mis)appropriate African American language practices. The word ratchet has entered into a wider (whiter) American discourse the same way that many words in African American English have—through hip-hop and social media. Generally, ratchet refers to behaviors and cultural expressions of Black people that sit outside of normative, middle-class respectable codes of conduct. Ratchet can function both as a tool for critiquing bad Black behavior, and as a tool for resisting the notion that there are such things as “good” and “bad” behavior in the first place. This book takes seriously the way ratchet operates in the everyday lives of middle-class and upwardly mobile Black Queer women in Washington, DC who, because of their sexuality, are situated outside of the norms of (Black) respectability. The book introduces the concept of “ratchet/boojie cultural politics” which draws from a rich body of Black intellectual traditions which interrogate the debates concerning what is and is not “acceptable” Black (middle-class) behavior. Placing issues of non-normative sexuality at the center of the conversation about notions of propriety within normative modes of Black middle-class behavior, this book discusses what it means for Black Queer women’s bodies to be present within ratchet/boojie cultural projects, asking what Black Queer women’s increasing visibility does for the everyday experiences of Black queer people more broadly.

Sex work is a subject of significant contestation across academic disciplines, as well as within legal, medical, moral, feminist, political and socio-cultural discourses. A large body of research exists, but much of this focuses on the sale of sex by women to men and ignores other performances, practices, meanings and embodiments in the contemporary sex industry. A queer agenda is important in order to challenge hetero-centric gender norms and to develop new insights into how gender, sex, power, crime, work, migration, space/place, health and intimacy are understood in the context of commercial sexual encounters. Queer Sex Work explores what it might mean to ‘be’, ‘do’ and ‘think’ queer(ly) in the study and practice of commercial sex. It brings together a multiplicity of empirical case studies – including erotic dance venues, online sex working, pornography, grey sexual economies, and BSDM – and offers a variety of perspectives from academic scholars, policy practitioners, activists and sex workers themselves. In so doing, the book advances a queer politics of sex work that aims to disrupt heteronormative logics whilst also making space for different voices in academic and political debates about commercial sex. This unique and multidisciplinary volume will be indispensable for scholars and students of the global sex trade and of gender, sexuality, feminism and queer theory more broadly, as well as policymakers, activists and practitioners interested in the politics and practice of sex work in local, national and international contexts.

Over the past ten years, we have witnessed the rise of queer and trans communities that have defied and challenged those who have historically opposed them. Through bold, symbolic imagery and surrealist, overlapping landscapes, queer illustrator and curator Syan Rose shines a light on the faces and voices of these diverse, amorphous, messy, real and imagined queer and trans communities. In their own words, queer and trans organizers, artists, healers, comrades, and leaders speak honestly and authentically about their own experiences with power, love, pain, and magic to create a textured and nuanced portrait of queer and trans realities in America. The many themes include Black femme mental health, Pacific Islander authorship, fat queer performance art, disability and healthcare practice, sex worker activism, and much more. Accompanying the narratives are Rose’s startling and sinuous images that brings these leaders’ words to visual life. Our Work Is Everywhere is a graphic nonfiction book that underscores the brilliance and passion of queer and trans resistance. Includes a foreword by Lambda Literary Award-winning author and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, author of Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice.

What gay people want and need The cost of anti-gay behavior How to respond to people who quote the Bible Making allies of heterosexual coworkers

Sexual Orientation at Work: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives brings together contemporary international research on sexual orientation and draws out its implications for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and heterosexual employees and managers. It provides new empirical and theoretical insights into sexual orientation employment discrimination and equality work in countries such as South Africa, Turkey, Australia, Austria, Canada, US and the UK. This book is novel in its focus on how sexual orientation intersects with other aspects of difference such as age, class, ethnicity and disability. It adopts new theoretical perspectives (e.g. queer theory) to analyze the rise of new ‘gay-friendly’ organizations, and examines important methodological issues in collecting socio-economic data about sexual minorities. Providing an accessible account of key issues and perspectives on sexual orientation in the workplace, Sexual Orientation at Work caters to a wide range of readers across business, feminist, and LGBT/Queer Studies fields.

Find out how being more LGBT inclusive can increase your organization’s productivity—and revenues! Workplace diversity can provide creative strength and greater productivity regardless of the organization. Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace: Creating an Inclusive, Productive Environment for Everyone in Your Organization, Third Edition presents a frank discussion about all the relevant aspects of sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. The author reveals how to incorporate diversity in your organization to foster greater loyalty, greater understanding, and greater productivity. Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace: Creating an Inclusive, Productive Environment for Everyone in Your Organization, Third Edition is the latest edition of the National Library Award-winning guide that explains terms, provides strategies for implementation of policies and programs, and gives you practical tools to educate and inform employees about a workplace environment inclusive of diversity. While previous editions concentrated on the diversity of sexual orientation, this edition has been expanded and extensively updated to include the needs and issues of transgender people. Other updated information includes showing the advantages of creating an LGBT inclusive environment, discussing in-depth about the financial rewards of marketing an organization as being open to the LGBT community, and explaining the benefits of presenting these topics in public schools and higher education. Several appendices are included to provide additional resources divided into categories such as “workplace education,” “transgender,” “marketing,” “family and the schools,” “legal,” and “business.” The book also features a useful bibliography, an assessment tool to gauge sexual diversity in your organization, a guide for transitioning transsexuals, and another appendix that presents research and recommendations as to how school campuses can make themselves more inclusive and less discriminatory. Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace: Creating an Inclusive, Productive Environment for Everyone in Your Organization, Third Edition discusses: updated information on domestic partner benefits educating employees about sexual orientation and gender identity the latest information on non-discrimination policies effective employee networks and alliances sensitive issues that involve transgender people opportunities and benefits of marketing to the LGBT community internal and external outreach programs crucial tax and insurance information new information focused on LGBT youth and academia inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and much more! Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace: Creating an Inclusive, Productive Environment for Everyone in Your Organization, Third Edition makes essential reading for human resource professionals; executives of every type of organization; LGBT employees involved with diversity efforts; affinity groups focused on orientation and/or gender identity; educators; students; and anyone interested in studying the role of sexual orientation or gender identification diversity in the workplace.