What's Going To Happen When I Have To Work & Live Next To Gay & Bisexual People

What Is The Impact Of Stereotypes & Misinformation On All Personnel - Gay, Straight & Bisexual

Conclusion

"What's Going To Happen When I Have To Work And Live Next to Gay and Bisexual People?"

The simple answer is that the odds are you already have been working and living next to gay and bisexual people. You just haven't known who they are!

1. One of the most important things to remember, when discussing the whole issue of "gays in the military," is that homo- and bisexual personnel have always been working and living alongside heterosexual personnel - this is not a new situation that has arisen since the ending of the official ban on gay personnel in the ADF.
3. Just because we seldom or never encounter colleagues who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, does not mean that people with some degree of homosexual orientation are not in the ADF, in our unit, or even among our close friends and workmates. It is fairly naïve and statistically improbable to believe otherwise.

2. The issue confronting us is not whether or not homo- and bisexually oriented personnel are serving, fighting, sleeping, showering and eating in close proximity to their heterosexual colleagues - it is whether or not they disclose their sexual orientation to their colleagues and how that disclosure might affect those colleagues. This basic fact must always be kept in mind.
4. Too often, heterosexual people react badly to disclosure by homo- or bisexual people due to the stereotypes and misinformation about homo- and bisexual people that abound in society.