Monday, May 3, 2010
I have a fear. It’s been slowly growing since I began college and now that I’ll be graduating in just more than a week, this fear cannot be ignored any longer.
I’m like a lot of my fellow soon-to-be graduates. We’re all looking for a job, some decent way to make a living after college and — if we’re lucky — insurance benefits attached to that new adult job.
But I have something that many other graduates never have to think about. It is something that could determine whether I’ll even have a fair interview, let alone a job, just because of who I am: I’m gay.
I know this is a startling revelation for all of you who read The Kansan. But those outside this arena — those hiring people for full-time jobs — don’t know this. Not yet.
For my fellow gays, those graduating and those up-and-coming, this type of job anxiety is common. I ask myself: Will my sexual orientation make it harder for me to get a job?
Even with laws put in place that are supposed to ensure equality in the workplace, there is still a good deal of prejudice. For example, most businesses don’t offer same-sex partners insurance benefits. What’s more, most states don’t acknowledge same-sex partnerships as legal unions, so there’s something to think about before I even try to get a job.
So, how do I apply for a job without worrying about whether my sexual orientation will affect it? The answer? I can’t. With today’s technology and employers Googling potential hires, there’s no way I can apply for a job without them Googling my name and seeing that I wrote all of these happy, gay columns for The Kansan.
I don’t care who knows my sexual orientation. I am certainly not going back in the closet just so an employer will give me the time of day to prove I am worthy of the job I’m applying for. But, that’s a personal choice.
For my fellow gays who are looking into traditionally conservative jobs, such as working as a lawyer, doctor or politician, you probably have your resume adapted so anything that could potentially “out” you is diminished or not.
In the case of finding a niche after college, how forward one is with sexual orientation truly becomes a personal choice. There are people I know who were super, “I’m out and proud” in college, who, since graduating, look and act nothing like they used to.
It’s not a crime to choose to put aside who you are when you go to your job. We all have to get by, but until the federal government recognizes us as equal citizens, it makes me sad to say that some of us will have to stay in a closet until we have full and equal protection just to make a living.
Just don’t let that fear of rejection keep you from being proud. I am not afraid to be who I am, and part of that is because I have lived in this town and been a part of a university that believes in my rights, regardless of who I love.
I wish everyone such feelings of comfort and security as they continue from the University on to life’s next big thing. Here’s to being out, being proud and being a Jayhawk.
— Bornstein is a senior from Lawrence in women's studies.
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Comments
Bornstein: Identity clashes with opportunity
I wonder why you are looking for trouble before it happens. Unlike you I have a job and have had a job for many years. I don't see a lot of what you fear so much. I know of three women who are gay where I work and no one seems to mind or even talk about it.
As for outing yourself; it is already against the rules, if not illegal, to make yourself known by making moves on someone else on the job. So if you don't ogle people or talk about what you would like to do with them at night no one cares. So don't go looking for trouble or that attitude could help you find it.
Bornstein: Identity clashes with opportunity
Employers are so scared about being called racist, sexist, or bigoted that being homosexual will probably be a bonus, if you insist on making an issue out of it.
Bornstein: Identity clashes with opportunity
Calvin, do you even know the author or whether they have a job already? No. Pretty brash assumption about them. And are you yourself gay? I'm going with a no because your comment shows you have little understanding of what it is to be gay. People are discriminated against just for being known as gay and people can AND do misinterpret their actions after learning a person is gay...you speak with a lot of judgment about a subject you really seem to lack any serious insight about. Just because you know of people who are gay and have a job doesn't mean you know jack about their struggles. Stop acting like you know everything or assuming everyone's looking for trouble because they talk about their concerns for the future. Try a little empathy and understanding. Preferably with a shot of castor oil.
Bornstein: Identity clashes with opportunity
Elbee, you said it for me. You don't know me and yet you judge me while at the same time attacking me for being what you think of as judgemental. I smell hyprocisy in the air and it stings my nostrils.
I speak for years of experience in the work force. Both in the military and the private sector. Don't be foolish and think that what the media writes about the military is really true. I guess I could ask if you've ever served by I'll assume (lol) not.
My experience is that forget what the media says; they trying to sell advertising so write inside the template of confrontation and abuse. In the real work force most people don't care as long as you don't force yourself on people either figurative or literally. Who can argue with that??? Of course there are Arslochen everywhere.
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