“Professionalism” is often used to sideline LGBTQ people. “I hear from a lot of trans and gender nonconforming people, dress code is often used as a smokescreen to justify homophobia and transphobia," says artist and public speaker ALOK Vaid-Menon. “There’s still this idea that our appearance is conflated with our legitimacy...with our ability to do a good job," ALOK says. "We need to disentangle that." ALOK says that often queer or trans people are penalized or punished for being "visibility emotional, visibly queer, visibly trans in the workplace." They say, don't underestimate that, but also don't underestimate the power of queer and trans leadership in the workplace. "It begins with an individual saying, 'I’m not going to tolerate this,' and recognizing that creates ramifications and reverberations for all people." Watch Andrew Seaman's full interview with ALOK: https://lnkd.in/g82Nb9Jq 🎬 Autumn Noel Kelly Elias A. Avalos Mac Pherson #Pride
As a lesbian, these types of posts are offensive to me. Trans activism has caused immeasurable harm - women’s rights are under attack, gay and lesbian identities have been erased and expert medical reports point to irreparable harm caused to vulnerable LGB, autistic and troubled youth suffering from rapid onset gender dysphoria through their medicalization. Unbelievable that LinkedIn uses the term queer which hurts and offends many older gays and lesbians. “I’m not going to tolerate this” anymore either. If he was going to bring his authentic self to work, maybe he should show up as a man and stop trying to pretend he’s a woman. And what a tired stereotype of a woman he brings. .
I agree everyone should be given a chance regardless of their looks, lifestyle, disabilities, or how they dress so long as they dress professionally and have a professional demeanor. However, most employees do not want to work in an 'emotional' environment as it adds so much stress to the workplace that people often cannot focus on the job. Therefore, I would expect the company would not hire highly emotional people or people who were obnoxious, extremely loud or attention-seekers by promoting their personal views on political issues or by wearing extremely bizarre clothes. This type of behavior and dress is acceptable in the entertainment business, but in general, in the business world, it causes distractions, stress, and reduced ability to focus on the job. That is why most business generally require employees dress 'appropriately' which means no sexually explicit clothes, no bizarre clothes, and do not condone acting in a sexually aggressive manner (hence sexual harassment can result in termination). or pushing into a co-worker's personal space.
So, everything has to be an issue. We have to tear apart and tear down every fabric of our society to appear tolerant. You mean to tell me adults do not want the responsibility of dress specific for a certain time and place? Interesting, so we must remove all boundaries. Let everything go. Wear whatever whenever and do whatever you like. Truly baffled about this mindset. Dear lord.
How ironic that in some European counties the headscarf known as the “Hijab” is banned in schools, universities and workplace, a symbol of modesty and chastity, because it is worn by Muslims. However when it comes ro LGBTQ, dress code is used as a smokescreen to justify homophobia! Ironic at its best!
It's called adherence to dress code and appearances a company wants their employees to have towards the consumer. I have alot of visible tattoos and for 20 years I was told to cover up my tattoos even though they're not offensive. I had to wear makeup on my hands to cover them, because every customer is important and someone will be offended. So you may be "showing your true self" but people don't care that pink hair, multiple piercings and wild clothes are your true self when they're the consumer
Apparently most people simply do not understand the point. It's not about questioning the importance of dress code, but how it is used as smokescreen to justify homophobia/transphobia. Everybody knows certain occupations require certain presentation. But dress code is oftenly used as a shallow argument to justify the exclusion of people that are dressed appropriately for the position, but not gender conforming. It's not about wearing pajamas neither provocative attire. Just take a look how Alok is dressed and question yourself: if it was a cisgender woman wearing the same clothes, would the reaction be the same? When you are LGBTQ and have such disgusting experiences, you'll understand. I always dressed quite formally and had a modest presentation, much more than most of my cisgender colleagues. And I need to mention that my productivity was one of the bests. But still my presentation was several times pointed as "not appropriate". And I was not working with sales or anything related, I was a scientist working all day inside a laboratory, most of the time completely alone. At the same time, I never saw anybody talking about my cisgender colleagues wearing shorts and open shoes, which are not adequate for lab safety.
Although I understand the sentiment, I disagree. Standards are put in place for a reason. If you want to visibly emotional or visibly queer, then find work that doesn't have a professional dress code standard. If I walk into a business setting and see pink hair, a ton of piercings and a man wearing a dress, I personally will not take this business seriously. Business standards are set for a reason, not as a personal attack on anyone from any community. If you disagree with that then establish a business that doesn't adhere to the same standards, that's the greatest thing about capitalism, you can do that.
You can hire this person, but then be prepared to walk on egg shells for the duration of their employment.
Unpopular opinion but as a fully paid up member of the LGBTQ+ community I believe I can say, with some authority, that sexual preference or gender identity or identification should not be an ‘excuse’ to be unprofessional. Work attire should be professional at all times. To be respected in your profession, there has to be rules. Of course I believe in respecting individuality but there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. Yes you should be yourself. Yes you can identify as what ever you like. But there is a commen misconception that you have to ‘look’ as what you identify to be accepted. This is wrong! People shouldn’t use identification as a weapon and a barrier. If you truly want to live in an inclusive world. You don’t need to wear your indenty on your sleeve - just be yourself
Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-engine Land Boeing 767/757, Commercial Single-Engine Land and Helicopter. Instrument Airplane and Helicopter.
1mo“Professionalism” is showing up to work prepared and with the mindset to be focused and productive. Collaboration with teammates and coworkers requires humility and taking pride in your work, to contribute to the team no matter if you work behind the scenes or you’re at forefront. Professionalism is concentration and focus on the outcome and the results of your work. If you show up at the workplace with intent to draw attention to yourself, then you are too proud of your appearance and are a distraction from performance. That’s what it boils down to. If you want to bring attention to yourself by your appearance instead of the results of your work, choose a workplace where you won’t be a distraction. Otherwise, focus on your profession and productivity and less about your appearance. If you are ambitious about your work, a dress codes doesn’t bother you. If a dress code bothers you, then perhaps you’re in the wrong line of work and/or need to find an environment where you can be more self-expressive about your appearance. But don’t try to break down the focus and professionalism of others in the workplace because you desire more attention on yourself.