Working while homosexual in South Africa : where are we now?

While being homosexual in Africa has serious consequences, in post-democratic South Africa, with its progressive constitution, homosexual people are considered equal to heterosexual people. However, constitutional equality does not always translate into practical equality for various reasons, in particular, religion. In this chapter, we evaluate the experiences of gay and lesbian South African employees from three empirical studies from the past five years. We were specifically interested in the perceived experiences of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination of homosexual people. Results indicated that for gays and lesbians, these negative experiences at work are still a reality, which was confirmed by contemporary literature. Furthermore, religion continues to fuel these stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Although forced by company policy, there are also signs that fellow employees are becoming more tolerant. Organizations have at their disposal various ways to dismantle the harmful stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination and to help foster a climate of inclusion. The findings add to the lacking body of knowledge regarding the treatment of gays and lesbians in the workplace in South Africa and give insight into the influence of religion in this dynamic. Directions for future research are given