Witnesses on the periphery: Young lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer employees witnessing homophobic exchanges in Australian workplaces
研究澳大利亚年轻LGBQ员工在职场中目睹恐同言论、笑话和评论的经历，发现他们作为边缘见证者面临身份管理压力，同时也会质疑和抵制恐同话语。
Social divisions on the basis of sexuality are continually reinforced and contested in organizational environments. Previous studies have focused on the workplace as a problematic environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer-identifying (LGBQ) workers. In this article, I examine young workers’ experiences of witnessing the exchange of homophobic expressions, commentary and humour at work. Qualitative findings are presented from an exploratory study of young LGBQ people’s experiences in Australian organizations. Three core themes are discussed: (i) young workers’ location as periphery witnesses to homophobic exchanges, discussions and humour; (ii) the constraints experienced by young LGBQ workers in having to ‘manage’ their sexuality at work; and (iii) young workers’ attempts to refute and reject homophobic discourse in work relationships. Based on these findings, I conclude that witnessing the exchange of homophobic commentary can constrain how young workers express their sexuality at work while also mobilizing young workers to question homophobic discourse.