🕝Employment Discrimination

In Malaysia, LGBTQIA+ people encounter discrimination in both the pre-employment phase as well as in the workplace.

✒️ Pre-employment discrimination

Pre-employment discrimination includes unequal access to employment opportunities due to their SOGIESC.

During interviews, candidates may face invasive questions about their personal lives, judgement based on appearance and mannerisms, or outright discomfort from interviewers regarding their sexual orientation or gender identity, leading to unfair rejection. Trans people are asked to change their gender expression to conform with gender norms; for example, trans women were asked to cut their hair short and wear men’s uniforms.

Trans people are explicitly turned down for jobs they are qualified for based on their gender expression. A trans man stated that he experienced rejection in the broadcasting industry when he revealed his gender identity even though he was successful in the interview, as the organisation said that they cannot put someone who was “half-half” in the industry. A trans woman with a diploma in pharmaceuticals was unable to find a job because she was asked to cut her hair and change her clothes.

👨🏽‍🏫 Workplace discrimination

In the workplace, LGBTQIA+ people are usually forced to hide their identity or conform to gender norms. Employers have also reprimanded or issued warnings to employees for expressing pro-LGBTQIA+ sentiments. LGBTQIA+ people are exposed to misogynistic comments, microaggressions, and sexual harassment. Trans women report frequent sexual harassment from colleagues, and clients. The following case study demonstrates how this impacts their mental health negatively and limits their job options.

Impact

Loss of income disproportionately impacts LGBTQIA+ people, who are more likely to lose their homes when they are financially constrained. Those who live in accommodations provided by their employers are also dependent on their jobs for access to housing. As a whole, LGBTQIA+ people are much less likely to have a supportive social safety net to fall back on. A report found that several LGBTQIA+ people lost their income during the MCO and could not continue paying rent; one was forced to return to an unsupportive family who disowned them when they discovered their SOGIESC. This financial insecurity further compounds the mental stress LGBTQIA+ people face in the workplace.

Case Study: LBQ Women and Misogyny in the workplace

Qing*, a bisexual woman, experienced a hostile work environment as a government staff.

“At my previous job, they made misogynistic jokes, and I feel like I have to keep it to myself because they are of higher rank than me. So it's kind of a struggle, because when you have this belief, and you face all this bullshit around you, and at the same time you have to act professional, it is actually very difficult. I get anxious about being queer as a government staff, and I also have to be cool about these passing remarks and locker room talk. It is very frustrating, and it does affect my choice of jobs in life.”

Key Takeaways

• The hostile work environment requires LGBTQIA+ people to be on high alert at all times, as they risk losing their jobs and sources of income if their employers or colleagues discover their SOGIESC.

• The criminalization and the overall hostile environments against LGBTQ people also severely limit their job choices.

What does this have to do with remedies?

• The lack of anti-discrimination laws and policies that extend to LGBTQIA+ people deters them from complaining about experiences of discrimination in the workplace.

• Many people are not aware about their employment rights or the existence of redress mechanisms for employment discrimination.

• PERKESO and other employment grievance bodies should make information about their services publicly accessible, including in government agencies, and adopt an intersectional lens in addressing discrimination including SOGIESC-related discrimination, misogynistic remarks, and other locker room talk.

Source

• Justice for Sisters. Monitoring Report: LGBTQ+ Rights In Malaysia (2021)

*Names changed to protect confidentiality