Language matters and the use of it acts as a symbol of inclusivity. Notwithstanding, some participants, particularly those who were older, said they sometimes had difficulty keeping up with changes to terminology and how individuals prefer the terminology to be used. If people within the LGBTQ+ community have difficulty with their level of knowledge and use of LGBTQ+ terminology, it is likely that others will too, making education and awareness on this issue crucial.
4. CALCULATING COMING OUT In this study, most of the LGBTQ+ employees had disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity to their immediate work colleagues, though not all. A person’s position in an organisation’s hierarchy often shaped their decision as to whether to express their diverse sexual or gender openly. For example, people said they had waited until they had reached a level of seniority to come out because they perceived their position would protect them from any negative implications. Conversely, early career workers described delaying being open about their LGBTQ+ identity until they had more experience, completed a necessary qualification or progressed within their organisation. These workers said they had waited to ensure their job security, emotional safety or career aspirations would not be affected. Despite participants often growing up without LGBTQ+ peers, some had reached a place in their personal life of empowerment, confidence and acceptance. However, deciding to moderate the expression of their sexual or gender identity at work to ‘fit in’ or to avoid anticipated negative responses created a sense of powerlessness at work that was at odds with how they felt outside of work. For example: I feel quite sad about it now because at this point in time there’s nothing much I can do. I’m going to wait until I finish my apprenticeship and get a permanent position ... I definitely will be [telling people] how I identify. So, once I finish, I’ll be very much asking the people I work with politely, ‘Can you not address me this way’ and I will not be having any ifs or buts about it. Queer, 40s I recently came out in the last 12 months, slowly. Been in the industry for 10 plus years and I think that there’s a lot more people like myself out there, and it needs to be made a little bit more normalised in such a masculine industry, I suppose. You know, it’s out there, and people are hiding it, and it doesn’t need to happen anymore. Gay, male, 20s
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