LGBTI Employees Face Discrimination in Public Sector

Click to read the articles in Turkish

The Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL) has released a report titled, "The Situation of the LGBTIs Employed in the Public Sector."

Kaos GL surveyed LGBTI people who are employed at the public sector, asking them if "there are rules, customs, practices that cause intra-institutional discrimination against the LGBTI employees" in the institution they work at.

Fifty-four percent of the voters said they had no idea, 27 percent said they don't think there are discriminative rules against LGBTI people.

In general, 73 percent of the participants said there are discriminative elements at the institutions they work at.

"Public morality" is used against LGBTIs

The participants said that the use of the notion of "public morality" against them causes increasing hate speech at the workplace, LGBTI couples not having the same rights as the married couples, being exposed as LGBTIs without their consent, dismissals from jobs and difficulties in promotions.

"For those who live their identity openly, promotion is out of question. Not complying with the gender roles has an equal influence on promotion," said a bisexual woman who works as a civil servant, adding that their identity can be used to threaten them even "in the smallest incidents."

"The fear of losing job"

LGBTI people in the public sector, according to the survey, mostly have to hide their identities.

The homophobic and transphobic environment in workplaces directly influence the LGBTI employees, causing them to continue their work life with the fear of being exposed, losing their jobs and being subjected to violence.

When asked if they were subjected to violence because of their gender identity, 44 percent said they were not "because they hide their identities," 18 percent said "because their identity cannot be understood," 12 percent said they were subjected to violence because of their gender identities. (EMK/VK)