hospitality, education and healthcare all rated highly A new survey has found while the majority of New Zealanders say they are accepting of lgbt people, that sentiment does not necessarily extend to the workplace. In a ‘Rainbow Acceptance Monitor’ carried out by Westpac, 54 per cent of those surveyed accepted the rainbow community, and 67 percent felt comfortable working with someone lgbt. However, only 43 percent of non-lgbt people surveyed believed their work colleagues were actually accepting. The bank conducted the survey online, questioning 1,025 New Zealanders, 252 of whom were lgbt. The lgbt participants were twice as likely to have felt bias at work due to their identity. Nearly one in three had been made to feel uncomfortable at work, much higher than non-lgbt people who took the survey. Further to that, 27 per cent of lgbt people experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation and 25 percent had heard staff make comments about the community that made them feel uncomfortable. Only just over 50 percent of lgbt people surveyed feel they are able to express themselves at work compared to 66 per cent of non-lgbt people, 37 per cent have hidden their sexual orientation at work. It also shows only 72 per cent of lgbt people said they were themselves comfortable with working with other members of the rainbow community. Of the remaining 28 per cent, four per cent were uncomfortable working with other members of their community. The others were either neutral or said the statement was not applicable to them. Chair of Westpac’s Employee Action Group Ian Blair says the monitor clearly shows New Zealanders believe they are open minded but their actions and language used in the workplace do not reflect that. “It appears we have open minds and an accepting attitude but some of our actions and what we say have not yet caught up to fully reflect that,” Blair says. “For example, some sayings and language that is used almost subconsciously is outdated in the 21st century. Take the word gay which originates from homophobia and is still used to shame or describe something that is a bit lame – ‘oh, that’s gay.’ “Used like that in a workplace amongst rainbow community colleagues is disrespectful and can understandably cause discomfort.” The survey found people aged 35-44 were the most comfortable working with lgbt people, at 74 percent. The least comfortable were people aged over 66, and from 15-24. The South Island and lower North Island appear to be the most inclusive areas of the country, with the Upper North Island and Auckland the least accommodating. The hospitality, education and healthcare sectors all rated highly for having an accepting workplace. Information media and telecommunications, manufacturing, and retail were among the least accepting. Westpac, which has a Rainbow Tick, says banking also could do better with only a third of lgbt people surveyed saying banks were accepting of the community.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 28th January 2015 - 9:22am