Undisclosed reality: harassment of gay male employees in Sri Lankan heteronormative workplaces

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study aims to understand the ways in which gay male employees are harassed due to their sexual orientation in Sri Lanka, a developing Asian country, within a culture of hegemonic heterosexual masculinity. Using qualitative research approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews with sixteen self-identified gay male employees were carried out. Within the backdrop of stigma and masculinity theories, the findings revealed how the hegemonic discourses of masculinity and heterosexuality as well as sexual stigma had led to enacted hegemonic masculinity and enacted stigma against gay male employees through microassault, organizational exclusion, and sexual harassment. The manifestation of socially constructed and institutionalized systems of power was also evident in these harassment experiences. With many studies on harassment of gay male employees being conducted in the Western context, the current study provides an in-depth understanding of how harassment is manifested in the Asian context with its distinctive cultural norms and values.

KEYWORDS:

• Gay male employees
• masculinity
• sexual stigma
• harassment
• microassault
• exclusion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 we use the terms ‘lesbians’, ‘gay men’, ‘gay male employees’, or ‘bisexual persons’ when we refer specifically to these groups, and ‘LGBTQI+’ when referring to the wider community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex+ persons.