Inactionable/Unspeakable: Bisexuality in the Workplace

Popova, Milena

Abstract

© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. In this article I argue that inclusion of bisexual employees in workplace contexts is hindered by the interaction of two key factors. On the one hand, bisexuality is frequently “invisible” diversity based predominantly around identity, whereas workplaces are action-oriented environments. On the other hand, where bisexuality becomes “actionable” in a workplace context (e.g., in its intersections with polyamory), it is insufficiently conformist or respectable for most employers to be able to account for and be inclusive of it in their institutional structures. The author bases her findings on interviews conducted for an activist book on bisexuality in the United Kingdom as well as autoethnographic reflection of her decade-long employment in the private sector, which included roles in LGBT diversity and inclusion in a multinational corporation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 20, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 28, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 28, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Bisexuality
• Print ISSN: 1529-9716
• Electronic ISSN: 1529-9724
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 54-66
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2017.1383334
• Keywords: bisexuality, workplace, diversity & inclusion, LGBT, work, employee resource groups
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/878068
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2017.1383334
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Bisexuality on 28 November 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15299716.2017.1383334
• Contract Date: Sep 28, 2017