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The Experiences of Black African Gays and Lesbians Regarding Office Gossip

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Office Gossip and Minority Employees in the South African Workplace

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Abstract

Informed by an established body of international literature on gossip and recently emerging research specifically on office gossip that to date has focussed on cisgender heterosexual employees, this chapter considers related experiences of mainly lesbian and gay people. With South Africa, as a case study, given its progressive constitutional protections also on grounds of gender and sexual orientation, that ought to translate to the workplace, consideration is given to the experiences of Black African lesbian and gay employees, in particular. Informed by recent research findings, we reflect on the potential negative, but also positive, consequences of office gossip. Strikingly, participants in the study that primarily informs this chapter only reported negative consequences and confirmed findings that lesbian and gay employees need to do considerably more identity work in the workplace than can be reasonably expected. Lesbian and gay-supportive organisational cultures and policies minimise office gossip and its negative consequences. Increased resilience, agency and confidence in lesbian and gay employees with the passage of time in a particular organisation, as they get to display more skills and expertise, confirm the prevalence of homophobia in the workplace, regardless of the progressive legislative and policy environment in South Africa.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    While this study focuses on gay and lesbian people, some studies cited also look at discrimination aimed at people who are bisexual, transgender or intersex. Therefore, the abbreviations LGB, LGBT or LGBT+ may be used to refer to sexually and/ or gender-diverse people in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity and/ or expression (SOGIE).

  2. 2.

    The racial terms “Black African”, “Coloured”, “Indian”, and “White” were created through apartheid laws in South Africa to refer to various race/population groups. As a result of the differential manner in which apartheid laws impacted, and continue to impact, on the lives of various groups of South Africans, the terms are employed here, but usage does not imply acceptance of apartheid assumptions. The researchers also recognise the role of self-identification on the basis of race.

  3. 3.

    Although also a people of colour sexual orientation, bisexual employees were excluded because they were more of a hard to reach constituency in South Africa. The study is delimited with an understanding that bisexual employees may succeed in ‘passing’ more as heterosexual. Possible differences between persons who claim these labels and those to whom these labels may be assigned ought not to be trivialised. The respective issues, experiences and needs of these people may in fact differ significantly and in several respects (PsySSA, 2017).

  4. 4.

    Gays and lesbians experience more discrimination from Black Africans in townships than in the cities as townships are segregated to a lesser extent in terms of race and any deviation from societal norms are frowned upon (Carrim, 2012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Resource Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Baipidi Morakile & Nasima M. H. Carrim

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Juan A. Nel

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  1. Baipidi Morakile
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  2. Nasima M. H. Carrim
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Correspondence to Nasima M. H. Carrim .

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    Nasima M. H. Carrim

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Morakile, B., Carrim, N.M.H., Nel, J.A. (2023). The Experiences of Black African Gays and Lesbians Regarding Office Gossip. In: M. H. Carrim, N. (eds) Office Gossip and Minority Employees in the South African Workplace. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2691-6_7

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