myGwork stories #3 Austria - 'Office culture and sexuality'

There is always a certain amount of pride for companies or organisations that can successfully be multicultural and tolerant. When I started working for a multicultural organisation in Vienna in 2011, I assumed people would be tolerant and accepting, especially being based in a very liberal western country. Coming from a South East Asian country, I really thought it would be very different from what I experienced in my native culture. However I soon realized there was still a long way to go.

At that time, I hadn’t discovered fully my sexuality, and I was well aware of discrimination and the attitudes towards LGBT people. On the surface most people are very accepting and say they are okay with everything, but the reality is that a lot of people have specific ingrained prejudices against the LGBT community. The clash of cultures, ages and backgrounds is apparent, especially for people coming from countries that have discriminatory views against LGBT people. It also doesn't help when the office is very male dominated and not everyone is accepting.

The words being used in normal conversations and how people react to the sexuality of people are extremely discriminatory in my office. The use of words such as gay and lesbian has become so derogatory that they became the adjective for unpleasant things. I hear people make fun of people who were seemingly “gay”, talk about other people's sexual orientation behind their back, or describe women as being a "lesbian” for being strong willed.

I am gay

All of these became more apparent to me in the summer of 2014 when I realised that I was gay. This scared me a lot. Working for a couple of years in an office, people tend to get closer and they get to know more personal things about you. But in this regard, I was very secretive. The environment isn’t as accepting as I thought it would be. What I think is even sadder is that a lot of people don’t even know or think about how some words can be extremely discriminatory and at the same time, make it difficult for people to feel comfortable. Now I make others aware when they use specific words and how it could make someone feel, and usually calling people out on it makes them think twice the next time.

Now a couple of colleagues know my sexual orientation, but for the most part I came to think of it as my own private matter. If they have a problem with it, I'm fortunate enough that there is enough protection in place for people who get discriminated against and harassed at work. My hope is that one day these things are not needed any more in the future.​


The author of this article wants to remain anonymous.

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This article is part of myGwork Stories: a series of articles about being LGBT in the workplace in different countries, cultures and industries.