GLBT people at work

An unexplored talent pool

The GLBT Agenda in Italy is well behind the rest of Europe: this is in fact, together with Greece, the only country in Western Europe without any legal recognition of its GLBT citizens and their families.

Labour legislation in Italy has a strong reputation as one of the most protective in Europe, however the protection provided is very strong on a collective basis only. Individual work issues such as those related to discrimination are virtually invisible in Labour Tribunals.

According to the WHO, 5% of the world population has a diverse sexual orientation or gender identity. Consequently, we can estimate that more than a million people, out of 23 million active workers in Italy, are GLBT. We do not know much about this group. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not easily visible or measurable and, because of the strong social stigma still attached to them in Italy, the vast majority of GLBT workers choose not to share their condition at work. Because of this, most employers in the Country feel the GLBT issues at work are not relevant, or, in the best case, they find them difficult “to grasp” and understand their full extent. In the worst case, unfortunately not uncommon, employers
can even doubt or deny having any GLBT employees at their firms, which, obviously, is
statistically virtually impossible.

Choosing to be “in the closet” at work, however, is emotionally an extremely stressful
condition to be in. The fear of retaliation or discrimination once discovered or “outed” can
have a substantial impact on GLBT employees’ performances.