Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-04-23
Source: The Conversation – in French– By Clotilde Coron, Professor of Management Sciences, University Paris-Saclay
On April 26, Lesbian Visibility Day takes place, aimed at highlighting role models, celebrating lesbian culture, and fighting against lesbophobia. The issue of visibility in the professional setting deserves even more to be brought to the forefront since lesbians are exposed to greater violence and discrimination.
Lesbian Visibility Day, April 26, is all the more necessary especially in the world of work because lesbians suffer from a double invisibility. First of all, they are almost absent from public discourse, media, and cultural representations. This lack of visibility can notably hinder the awareness of sexual orientation, and some lesbians interviewed as part of the survey explain that they built a heterosexual life (with a partner and children) before realizing that they were lesbians.
Then, aa large number of lesbian employees hide their sexual orientation at work. More precisely,according to our investigation, 14% of lesbian employees state that none of their colleagues are aware of their sexual orientation. This strategy of non-disclosure is costly in terms of relationships, knowing thatMany conversations at work, for example in socialization occasions such as coffee breaks, lunch breaks, are about daily life (leisure, family, children…).
The cost of non-disclosure
It involves speaking very little about one’s daily life, or speaking in the “I” form to avoid mentioning the existence of a partner, or even saying “he” when talking about one’s partner, to appear heterosexual. 28% declare that they reveal their sexual orientation only to a small group of colleagues whose open-mindedness they have previously checked. This strategy is carried out in two stages: first, it involves introducing conversation topics oriented around progressive values to identify how colleagues position themselves, before, in a second stage, revealing one’s sexual orientation.
Also to read:
How LGBTQIA+ employees adapt their social media usage in relation to their company
It is costly in terms of mental load because it requires remembering which colleagues know and which do not, and adapting one’s words and the way of talking about daily life depending on the circles of colleagues. A lesbian woman interviewed also recounts a situation in which, upon passing by a colleague she knows vaguely in the street, she asked her partner to let go of her hand. The latter said to her, “I thought your colleagues were aware,” to which she replied, “Yes, they are aware, but not her in particular.”
An overexposure to violence and discrimination
This invisibility is partly explained by the fact that lesbians are overexposed to violence and discrimination at work,as is also the case in public space. For example, still according to our survey, 10% of lesbian employees say they have been victims of physical violence in their workplace, compared to 3% of heterosexual female employees and 7% of gay male employees. 23% report having been victims of psychological and moral violence, compared to 14% of heterosexual female employees and 18% of gay male employees. Finally, 9% have been victims of sexual violence, compared to 4% of heterosexual female employees and 7% of gay male employees.
These figures show a high overexposure of lesbian employees to violence, and this overexposure is also found in discrimination: 27% of lesbian employees believe they have already been discriminated against because of their gender or sexual orientation in their workplace, compared to 11% of heterosexual employees.
Ambient lesbophobia
The collected accounts reveal different forms ofmicro-aggressions and violence, ranging from clumsiness to sexual assaults, including homophobia or ambient lesbophobia, that is to say homophobic or lesbophobic remarks not directed at the person hearing them. As recounted by one of the lesbian employees interviewed, Sarah, who works in a middle school:
“They are still teenagers, and we know how that spreads. There are issues where, indeed, I had a young person last week who said to me: ‘I don’t like him because he’s gay.’ Well, that’s it, clearly, I am also confronted with that. So, it bothers me and therefore, I also know how it is conveyed and potentially the negative image that some have.”
The “breadwinner” model
Data on professional success (career, salary) show astonishing results. Indeed, while lesbian employees are more exposed to violence and discrimination than heterosexual employees, lesbian employees seem less penalized in terms of salary, access to promotion, or access to managerial positions. For example, according to our survey, 43.7% of lesbian employees have managerial responsibilities, compared to 38.4% of heterosexual employees. One possible explanation for this lesser penalty faced by lesbian employees may lie in the fact that they are less subjected to gender norms, notably tomodel of a “breadwinner”, which still largely dominates heterosexual couples, and in which the household income is assumed to depend primarily on the husband’s salary and therefore on his professional success.
Lesbian couples are also much more egalitarian in terms of the distribution of domestic tasks, and moreover, lesbian employees work part-time less frequently than heterosexual employees. All this can lead them to devote both more time and greater importance to their work, their remuneration, and their career. Some lesbian employees interviewed also report the existence of stereotypes about lesbian women that can advantage them professionally (notably the fact that lesbian women are perceived as having more “masculine” characteristics) while confining them to certain categories.
Ultimately, this survey suggests avenues for organizations wishing to commit to the inclusion of lesbian employees:
-
make their existence visible, for example by taking into account issues related to sexual orientation in gender equality policies and issues related to gender in LGBT+ engagement policies, or by highlighting role models;
-
raise awareness about the persistence of violence, discrimination, and stereotypes;
-
assert a zero-tolerance policy towards sexist, homophobic, and lesbophobic acts and statements.
Theproject “ODILE” )is supported by the National Research Agency (ANR), which funds project-based research in France. The ANR’s mission is to support and promote the development of fundamental and targeted research in all disciplines, and to strengthen the dialogue between science and society. For more information, visit the website of theANR.
Clotilde Coron received funding from the ANR (project “ODILE”) for the project from which the book originates.
–ref. Lesbians at work: coming out of invisibility –https://theconversation.com/lesbiennes-au-travail-sortir-de-linvisibilite-280679