Keeping sexuality a secret a health risk
February 11th 2010 16:19
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Keeping sexuality a secret a health risk
BEING forced to keep your sexual orientation a secret to save your job is unfair and potentially damaging to your mental and physical health, retired High Court justice Michael Kirby says.
Mr Kirby was speaking in Sydney at the launch of a new campaign, Pride in Diversity, which aims to work with employers to make workplaces more responsive to the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Openly gay Mr Kirby told the audience he has been fortunate to have been in a loving relationship with his partner Johan van Vloten for over 40 years.
I have been greatly blessed, he said.
Everyone who wants it should have a wonderful, supportive, loving relationship as it's so important for psychic and physical health.
Mr Kirby said that for many years he was forced to keep his relationship a secret.
I found that I had to keep very, very silent about a person who was a wonderful support and a very interesting, highly intelligent and extremely amusing and quite decorous person and so we had to play the game of don't ask, don't tell, he said.
Pride in Diversity director Dawn Hough said fear of abuse or discrimination forced many LGBT people to hide their sexual orientation while they were at work, leading to an increase in anxiety or depression.
It's a very serious issue and employers across the board really need to be taking action to ensure they provide a sufficient duty of care, Ms Hough said.
Some of Australia's leading organisations - including Telstra, IBM, KPMG, the Department of Defence and the Australian Federal Police - have signed up as foundation members of the program.
From: AAP February 10, 2010 6:54PM
Mr Kirby was speaking in Sydney at the launch of a new campaign, Pride in Diversity, which aims to work with employers to make workplaces more responsive to the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Openly gay Mr Kirby told the audience he has been fortunate to have been in a loving relationship with his partner Johan van Vloten for over 40 years.
Mr Kirby said that for many years he was forced to keep his relationship a secret.
I found that I had to keep very, very silent about a person who was a wonderful support and a very interesting, highly intelligent and extremely amusing and quite decorous person and so we had to play the game of don't ask, don't tell, he said.
Pride in Diversity director Dawn Hough said fear of abuse or discrimination forced many LGBT people to hide their sexual orientation while they were at work, leading to an increase in anxiety or depression.
It's a very serious issue and employers across the board really need to be taking action to ensure they provide a sufficient duty of care, Ms Hough said.
Some of Australia's leading organisations - including Telstra, IBM, KPMG, the Department of Defence and the Australian Federal Police - have signed up as foundation members of the program.
From: AAP February 10, 2010 6:54PM
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