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| Gay employees might have less leeway than they think when surfing the internet, even from the privacy of their own homes. The all-access nature of the web can lead to conflicts with employers. |
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Safe surfing
Here are some basic strategies to help ensure your online life doesn’t threaten your job.
• Use an alias online or only part of your name.
• Don’t disclose your place of employment, either in writing, or by taking a picture in your uniform or at your office.
• Assume that anything and everything you post (including explicit material) can potentially be seen by anyone and everyone.
• Activate private settings when available.
• Never use company equipment for personal online activities.
• Research your employer or potential employer’s policies on internet use and non-discrimination, including whether the company includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its anti-bias policies.
• If possible, be out at work from the start of your employment so your sexual orientation won’t be discovered online. |
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FEATURE
By: RYAN LEE COMMENTS
 
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certainly, to communicate on the internet, especially as long as it’s not during work hours,” said Paul Cates, director of public education for the ACLU’s LGBT Project.
“Half the people under a certain age are using the internet to look for dates,” added Cates, who characterized Wooten’s posting as a “perfectly innocent ad.”
A lot of recent attention has been paid to employers using websites like Myspace and Facebook to cull information on prospective employees, but not so much on niche dating sites like bear411.com where content can be more racy. Dating sites that require a membership tend to feel more private than sites that can be accessed by the general public.
But “that false sense of privacy can lead people to reveal more about themselves than they would normally,” said Jeffrey Prince, a professor at University of California-Berkeley who studies sexual orientation in the workplace.
“Increasingly these online profiles are becoming more popular, but often people are forgetting they’re not private — they’re quite public,” said Prince, who added that older web users “may not be as familiar with electronic sites and how information may be accessed and duplicated.”
DESPITE THE UNFAIR discrimination that gay people suffer at work, Prince suggested that gay employees find a balance between out-and-proud and employed-and-protected.
“I hate to say that they should [avoid mentioning their sexual orientation in online profiles], but I think it’s realistic in today’s electronic world to be careful what they put up on different sites because these are always open to misuse,” Prince said. “I hate to forward the stereotype that one should hide his or her sexual orientation on the basis of fear.”
The National Career Development Association is incorporating a session on gay-related workplace issues at its annual conference in July, and the potential abuse of online information by employers needs to be included in that discussion, said NCDA board president Barry Chung.
“People haven’t thought that far [about the unique career risks for gay people online] and they aren’t sensitive to the possibility of discrimination,” Chung said.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian members of the military, has repeatedly criticized armed forces leaders for snooping online to find damaging information on gay soldiers. The group has represented more than a dozen gay soldiers — including several who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan — who were outed by online profiles.
“While online communities can be an important communication tool for military personnel, they can also lead to investigations and dismissals under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” said Kathi Wescott, deputy director of law for SLDN.
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