How To Ask All The Wrong Questions

A look at how descrimination against gay people in the work place has come full circle.

Nobody can deny that the gay and lesbian community have suffered discrimination over the years, particularly when it comes to recruitment. Mis-understood facts surrounding the HIV virus caused fear and panic among straight people and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of society were held back when it came to employment, despite their ability to do the jobs they were applying for.

However, many organisations have taken steps to address this issue, going so far as to advertise their vacancies in LGBT publications. Thanks to education and advertising, and the actions of gay rights movements and new anti-discrimination laws, many companies are now claiming to see the potential of gay people to do as good a job as any heterosexual person.

This seems quite an obvious statement to make, given that education and training take no heed of sexual orientation but the problem has always been human attitude.

However, is it now becoming an issue that discrimination is now stepping over boundaries in the other direction? Are heterosexual people being overlooked for jobs for a companies fear that they would be seen to be taking against gay people?

In an ideal world, sexuality simply would not come into it. A person would be assessed for their compatibility for a vacant position purely on their ability to do the job in question.

The London Development Agency are one such organisation who are very hot on equal rights for the gay community. They like to ensure that all suppliers they use also have an equal rights policy but have taken this to the extreme and are causing unease within the companies they use.

For all companies tendering for jobs with the London Development Agency, there is a supplier diversity development questionnaire to be filled in, where they have to answer for the sexuality of their staff. The LDA say they need the information to ensure the diversity of their supplier base.

They also assure the companies that the answers do not determine who wins the contract. How can this be so? If the LDA are looking for diversity within their contractors then surely a company who proves their diversity are more likely to win the contract than those that do not?

Questions such as 'Is your organisation mostly owned or led by LGBT people? What is your percentage of LGBT staff in your workforce?' are more the type of thing that could be used in a survey but not to determine whether plumbers, builders or engineers are capable of doing a job. Perhaps 'What are your qualifications?' or 'What experience do you have in engineering?' would be more appropriate.

This has outraged business leaders who employ their staff on their abilities, rather than their sexual preference. The questionnaire is said to ask questions that are intimate, intrusive and irrelevant. While many of the staff may well be from the gay community, just like heterosexual people they do not always choose to advertise the fact so the only option companies with this questionnaire face is having to ask their staff these questions.

Personally, I would be offended if my boss began asking questions of such a personal nature and even more offended if this made the difference between winning a contract or not. While equal rights for gay people is a basic human right, so it is for heterosexual people. It simply should not come into the equation when considering work.

About the author: Equal rights expert Catherine Harvey looks at the turn around in the gay community of descrimination. To find out more please visit http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/