Mixed Signals

Running head: Mixed Signals 

The article Mixed Signals highlights the past and present trends on the  effort of controlling discrimination of sexual  orientation in the work place  by the state and  private and public sectors.  Though, tremendous effort has been made by the government and the business sectors, the adoption of such legislation, which bars sexual orientation discrimination in the work place, has slowed to a crawl in recent years. The Article further adds that the gays and lesbians are now accepted not only in the work place but also in society as a whole though there is no rapid progress in the legislative change.

It can be inferred from the article that lack of active collaboration between the activist and the legislature to work together against sexual orientation behavior is one of the main reason for the slow movement in the legislative change. In addition, different social and religious groups are to some extent responsible for sluggish move in the legislative change.

In recent years, it is seen that companies are leading the way than the legislature to work against such discrimination. These companies are now working actively against such discrimination in the work place, not because they want to do it, but rather because they are compelled to do so by the global change in social perspective and attitude towards the gays and lesbians.   In addition to this, there are some other complicating factors in this steady but low profile march toward discrimination-free workplaces. On one hand, gay and lesbians are demanding protection against discrimination based on gender identity. On the other hand, it will be discrimination against transsexuals, those who have gone through sex-change operations.  Finally, workplaces comprising of gay, lesbian, transgender and straight employees are becoming more complex day by day. It is very hard to manage sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace due to the complexity.

To control and manage the sexual orientation discrimination, the article suggests that it has to be a two way process between the employer and employee. Until and unless the employer is not committed to educating their employees about the gender related issues and until and unless the employees are not committed to working with the employer, such discrimination may not be eliminated as desired.

In conclusion, the best way to manage the gender based discrimination and sexual orientation in the work place is educating the managers, co-workers and employees about the negative impact of such discriminations. Creating awareness about why such sexual orientations behavior should be managed, rather than creating a strict laws against such acts, in the work place and compelling individual employees to strictly follow the rules imposed by the laws is also important.

Reference                                          

Barrier, M., (2001). Mixed Signals. HR Magazine. http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/1201/1201barrier.asp